People besiege banks, firms as stanford fallout spreads

FBI reportedly probing money laundering

From the tiny Caribbean island of Antigua, a key outpost in Stanford's business empire, to Andean nations Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, investors and depositors, most angry, some in tears, besieged his banks and companies to try to redeem funds or seek information about their savings.

After the shock generated by the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme fraud blamed on Wall Street veteran Bernard Madoff, regulators sought to calm public fears about another major financial scandal at a time of global recession and banking failures.

In Colombia, a local affiliate of Stanford halted its activities on that country's stock exchange.

In Ecuador, the local Stanford affiliate was suspended for 30 days from operating . . .

(he tried to hire a private jet to fly from Houston to Antigua, but the jet lessor refused to accept his credit card)

ABC NEWS report

SEC Moving to Seize Billionaire's Planes, Yachts, Bank Accounts and Homes February 19, 2009

By JOSEPH RHEE, JUSTIN ROOD and GINA SUNSERI


ABC News

The billionaire banker accused of scamming $8 billion, R. Allen Stanford, was located by FBI officials today and served with civil papers by the SEC, putting an end to a nationwide search.