Spare a thought for Allen Stanford who gets sentenced today

[Tricky Dicky]

Perhaps the thought should be that 230 years is not long enough!

The bloke is 62, anything more than 20 years is fairly redundant - and that's being generous on prison food.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

It all looked so good for him, once upon a time.

Ouch.

I never heard this - ouch indeed: Allen Stanford's Case Highlights Prison Violence

 

[Beach Hut]

Amazingly when Panorama investigated his HQ and bank there wasn't even a safe there.

 

[The Rivet]

The most aluminating aspect of this tread is this. He may be suffering now for 20- 30yrs till he is dead. Nasty way to spend the rest of your life I agree. However, and I say this, how many people saying to hell with him have ever lead the sort of life he once led? He conned thousands yes, shame I couldn't afford to invest but, then I am not rich enough to 'invest' and with him about I guess I am glad about that. Thought is though, if you can invest thousands without affecting your own normal lifestyle, or if you are greedy for more on a high profit, high risk, seemlingly unloseable investment. Then I have NO SYMPATHY. Invest your millions in more altruistic or humanitarun philanthropnic expenditure.

 

[catfish]

On this occasion justice would seem to have been done methinks.

 

[Gritt23]

110 years, then.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

The most aluminating aspect of this tread is this. He may be suffering now for 20- 30yrs till he is dead. Nasty way to spend the rest of your life I agree. However, and I say this, how many people saying to hell with him have ever lead the sort of life he once led? He conned thousands yes, shame I couldn't afford to invest but, then I am not rich enough to 'invest' and with him about I guess I am glad about that. Thought is though, if you can invest thousands without affecting your own normal lifestyle, or if you are greedy for more on a high profit, high risk, seemlingly unloseable investment. Then I have NO SYMPATHY. Invest your millions in more altruistic or humanitarun philanthropnic expenditure.

I've not looked into the victims in this particular case, but usually they do not tend to be "rich" people investing in these schemes - they tend to be oridnary people trying to save enough for their retirement, not money "they can afford to lose". I don't agree with the basic tenet of your argument that people who have money deserve to be conned, anyway. The status of the victim has no bearing on the commital of the crime.

It could have been committed by any company - I don't know if you have a pension, but if have and the company is prosecvuted for fraud, you lose your money - do you deserve it ?

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

It's a fraudulent investment scheme, whereby you appear to be getting high returns on your investment, but really the returns are coming out of your capital pot. It works on the basis that more people investment than withdraw their investment.

Eg.
You invest £100 with me, and 6 months later you get a £10 dividend. Wow, 10% return in 6 months, that'll be 20% pa.
10 more people invest £100 each, and I pay out each of them £10 6 months later, and you another £10.
So, a year in I was given £1,100 to invest, which I did so and got 3% from ING or whatever. But the investment is only £990, because I've paid out £120 in "dividends". But I never tell anyone that I'm paying your dividends out of your own capital. Instead I tell the World that my investement scheme is paying out at 20% pa, and that draws in loads more "investors".

It just grows and grows from there, and won't collapse unless I have a massive run of investors pulling their money out. As long as I maintain the confidence, which I do so with great dividend pay-outs, then it just grows and grows.

Pardon my ignorance, but isn't this how banks operate in their normal operation?

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Of course it wasn't his helicopter. It was a hired one that he had decorated with his logos.

 

[The Rivet]

I've not looked into the victims in this particular case, but usually they do not tend to be "rich" people investing in these schemes - they tend to be oridnary people trying to save enough for their retirement, not money "they can afford to lose". I don't agree with the basic tenet of your argument that people who have money deserve to be conned, anyway. The status of the victim has no bearing on the commital of the crime.

It could have been committed by any company - I don't know if you have a pension, but if have and the company is prosecvuted for fraud, you lose your money - do you deserve it ?

I fully understand your stance, I do not believe people who have money deserve to be conned, not at all. I have just pointed out that the majority of humanity cannot afford, let alone think about, investing in 'high risk', 'high profit' trading. The majority of us just strive to survive, if we can afford to invest I guess we do so at our own risk.


Ok ,editing this now as I feel you are going to come back at me with the pensions investments....yes well, we all have a choice who we trust our money to.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The guy is a crook. Did people spare a thought for the Krays when they were convicted?

At least they loved their mum. Stanford would have robbed his.

 

[KneeOn]

Pardon my ignorance, but isn't this how banks operate in their normal operation?

No, banks give back less than they borrow.

So a bank charges 7% interest (optimistically low right?) on a a loan and gives 5% interest on a savings account. The surplus 2% is what is profit.

Also your interest you aquire isn't paid out of your own money which you invested, it's paid on top. So your 100 becomes 110 rather than you get a tenner and think you have 110 but really only have 100.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I fully understand your stance, I do not believe people who have money deserve to be conned, not at all. I have just pointed out that the majority of humanity cannot afford, let alone think about, investing in 'high risk', 'high profit' trading. The majority of us just strive to survive, if we can afford to invest I guess we do so at our own risk.


Ok ,editing this now as I feel you are going to come back at me with the pensions investments....yes well, we all have a choice who we trust our money to.

Absolutely you take responsibity for your own choices. I was just pointing out that whoever you "invest" with, whether it's a pension, a mortgage endowment or life-policy (or even possibly a bank account) - you are not in control of your money and probably don't know who has, and if there's a will to do it, any company can commit crimes like this. Given that there were 17,000 citims in this case, mostly from Latin America I doubt very much if they could afford to lose their money (I think many have lost their houses). As he was deemed to be one of the richest men in the US, most people would probably have thought him to be a solid investment, not high risk at all.

 

[The Rivet]

Absolutely you take responsibity for your own choices. I was just pointing out that whoever you "invest" with, whether it's a pension, a mortgage endowment or life-policy (or even possibly a bank account) - you are not in control of your money and probably don't know who has, and if there's a will to do it, any company can commit crimes like this. Given that there were 17,000 citims in this case, mostly from Latin America I doubt very much if they could afford to lose their money (I think many have lost their houses). As he was deemed to be one of the richest men in the US, most people would probably have thought him to be a solid investment, not high risk at all.

And I guess therein lies the problem, your last sentance, he was 'deemed' to be. I guess for me then, whoever issued his financial licence and registration should pay back those that lost out. Who was that licensing bureau?

.....come to think of it who the hell were responsible for checking all the companies books and accounts. Ok I agree Stanford should rot but, I'm thinking there should be more then to hold accountable.

 

[pasty]

A strange thread title for a man who has robbed, lied, defrauded thousands of innocent Caribbean people.

On the flip side to that, I was in Antigua last week and went on a tour of cricket grounds that encompassed the Stanford Complex. The Antiguan guide with us told us that 100's of locals were very upset to see him go down as he created 100's and 100's of jobs and kept many locals employed, and even paid them when things were going tits up. Not really defending him, just giving an alternate, local view of the man. Make of it what you will

A bit odd seeing the whole complex still there, but totally locked down and unused. Apparently a few companies have tried to get it back up and running, but the cost of electricity on the island is prohibitive to making it a viable option.

 

[Stat Brother]

On the flip side to that, I was in Antigua last week and went on a tour of cricket grounds that encompassed the Stanford Complex. The Antiguan guide with us told us that 100's of locals were very upset to see him go down as he created 100's and 100's of jobs and kept many locals employed, and even paid them when things were going tits up. Not really defending him, just giving an alternate, local view of the man. Make of it what you will

A bit odd seeing the whole complex still there, but totally locked down and unused. Apparently a few companies have tried to get it back up and running, but the cost of electricity on the island is prohibitive to making it a viable option.

I think my comment was on the back of reading a Sunday Times investigation.
He certainly took a lot of people to the cleaners.

How did you find Barbados?

 

[perseus]

Its the borrow your way out of debt scenario. By borrowing increasing amounts of money you can pay off your creditors and then you die or disappear.

 

[pasty]

How did you find Barbados?

Barbados is now officially the bestest place I have ever been to on this planet.

 

[Stat Brother]

Barbados is now officially the bestest place I have ever been to on this planet.

That's cos it is, it's also the friendliest.

 

[Bob!]

How did you find Barbados?

I just flew to the Caribbean, and there it was!