SEC to Dismiss Lawsuit Against SIPC Over Payments to Stanford Ponzi Scam Victims

The Securities and Exchange Commission has said that it no longer intends to continue trying to get the Securities Investor Protection Corporation to pay back investors the losses they sustained in R. Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scam. The decision comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the regulator failed to prove that the scheme’s victims were “customers” eligible for compensation by the SIPC. That decision upheld an earlier ruling by a district court in 2012.

Even though the SEC is no longer seeking to compel the brokerage industry insurance fund to pay the investors, the agency says it is committed to the victims and will keep working with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Stanford Receiver, and others in an effort to maximize investor recovery.

SIPC keeps a special fund to pay back investors if their securities and cash were lost when a brokerage failed. The agency, however, said it couldn’t compensate the Stanford Ponzi scam victims because their losses were not a result of a broker-dealer failing but due to their purchase of CDs from a foreign bank-assets that they are still holding and now have no value.

Prior to the SEC lawsuit, SIPC had offered to pay each Stanford Ponzi scam victim up to $250,000. The regulator said this was not enough.

R. Allen Stanford is currently serving more than 110 years behind bars for his Ponzi scam. Authorities say that he sold investors fake CDs through his Stanford International Bank in Antigua. He would use their money to pay back earlier customers while also taking money to back his own enterprises. Thousands of customers were bilked in the scheme.

U.S. SEC won’t appeal ruling against Stanford’s Ponzi victims, Reuters, September 5, 2014

Court denies payout to Ponzi scheme victims, CNBC, July 18, 2014

Securities Investor Protection Corporation

More Blog Posts:
US Supreme Court Considers Hearing Stanford Ponzi Lawsuits, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, October 3, 2012

US Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on the Impact of SLUSA on the Stanford Ponzi Scams, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, October 17, 2013

SEC Gets Initial Victory in Lawsuit Against SIPC Over Payments Owed to Stanford Ponzi Scam Investors, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, February 10, 2014