Reuters: [Wealthy] Venezuelans, with billions at Stanford, want money

[jordi_fanclub]

Source: Reuters

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelans have about $2.5 billion invested in Stanford International Bank, an official said on Wednesday, as hundreds of investors besieged its local offices after U.S. authorities charged the company with fraud.

An estimated one-third of the money invested in Stanford International Bank is Venezuelan, the national banking regulator said. Worried clients packed into the bank's offices in Caracas, trying fruitlessly to withdraw investments.
...
Despite the scale of the Venezuelan investments the fallout on the wider economy is expected to be minimal because the money was held offshore.

Wealthy Venezuelans often keep their money overseas for fear of political instability under socialist President Hugo Chavez.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKTRE51H5JZ20090218

---

Even agnostic sometimes I really believe that God must have a big sense of humour... :)

[dipsydoodle]

1. Yes - a really big sense of humour

So sad for the rich right wing Venezuelans - NOT.

[closeupready]

2. Me either, really.

They abused the poor in Venezuela for YEARS. This is karmic retribution, maybe?

[GreenTea]

3. Yes, these are the anti-Chavez people the DUers adore & support! No different than

"our" republican corporate pigs here avoiding taxes with their off shore accounts (they believe only the workers should have to pay taxes, not the rich) while the corporations & the wealthy are enjoying socialism for themselves....

But mention Chavez socialism for the workers and these DUers go nuts & scream....they only believe in socialism (bailouts, subsidies & no taxes) for the rich, who do indeed have and enjoy the pleasures of government socialism.

[keopeli]

4. your post makes no sense to me

are you referring to yourself when you say "DUer", since you are a registered member of DU for over 2.5 years with almost 3000 posts?

Having been a "DUer" for much longer than you, I can say that I've never seen a rash of posts in support of the anti-Chavez right wing in Venezuela. In fact, quite the opposite.

You say, "they {meaning DUers} only believe in socialism for the rich". This makes no sense to me. Since when do any significant population of "DUers" advocate socialism only for the rich anywhere, here or overseas?

Perhaps I'm reading your post wrong.

[IDFbunny]

7. Hating on Castro

didn't automatically mean loving Batista either.

[EFerrari]

16. There is a contingent here that repeats every right wing talking point

about Venezuela that comes down the pike. There's a thread in GD right now that decides Chavez is "an asshole" because he once said something nice to Mugabe -- like every other active politician at the time.

[damntexdem]

5. The Stanford, it tooka da money and run from Venezuela!

LOL!

Overseas just ain't so stable anymore. Better if you go with Hugo!

[justinaforjustice]

6. Epiphanies To Come For Some Venezuelans.

Sounds like there is a group of newly poor Venezuelans who are going to glad their country has government subsidized food markets and very cheap restaurants, not to mention free medical, dental and eye care. Oh, and now they may qualify for government subsidized housing.

I suspect that some will take the government goodies, while still loudly complaining how awful Chavez's socialist government is. Maybe a few will realize that they're lucky not to be among the U.S. poor, who have no food, housing or medical care.

[sofa king]

8. I wonder if this was a CIA front company run amok.

The wisps I've read here and there suggest that these guys were tight with the GOP, tight with the gangsters in the White House, tight with Jack Abramoff's stooges in Congress, and tight with the oligarchs in Venezuela.

So maybe the question is how can the Stanford Group NOT be associated with the CIA and the failed 2002 coup attempt in Venezuela, and how is the federal government going to conceal that relationship?

[girl gone mad]

13. I've heard rumors, too...

from someone who had a business relationship with Stanford.

[Chemical Bill]

35. You mean like the Nugan-Hand Bank ...

in Australia (among other places)? The bank who's misdeeds were detailed in the Jonathan Kwitney book: The Crimes of Patriots? That would be the late Wall Street Journal reporter, of course.

Bill

[bemildred]

9. As Others Fled Venezuela, Bank Saw a Golden Opportunity

CARACAS, Venezuela — In 2005, foreign investors were growing nervous about Venezuela as President Hugo Chávez began asserting greater control of the economy, but Stanford Group decided it was time to put down stakes.

Oil prices, after all, were climbing, even as Mr. Chávez was starting to nationalize assets like cattle estates, before moving on to oil projects and telephone and electricity companies. Venezuelans flush with wealth from soaring oil prices — as well as those with other fortunes — were seeking ways to shift their money offshore.

In Stanford International, a part of the group whose main base was in Antigua, they found an alluring vehicle.

By 2007, the group, run by the Texas financier Robert Allen Stanford, had moved into a glittering new headquarters building in the heart of El Rosal, the city’s financial district, in a rare display of confidence in Venezuela’s economy at a time when companies in an array of industries were cutting their exposure to the country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/business/worldbusiness/19invest.html

[IndianaGreen]

10. The Bolivarian Revolution will provide them with health care, food, and shelter

Nothing like socialism to feed and clothe the down-on-their-luck capitalist scum.

Those that defend capitalism, shall die by it.

[ProudDad]

11. Couldn't happen

to a nicer bunch of traitors...

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

17. This has to be a miserable week for righ wing Venezuela.

:)

[Robbien]

19. Venezuela 'takes over local Stanford bank'

Venezuela took control of a local bank owned by Allen Stanford, who faces US fraud charges, a government source said today as the impact of the American case spread through Latin America.

. . .

The Finance Ministry called an unusual early morning news conference to make an announcement, although it did not say what the topic would be.

Chavez, who blames problems in the global banking system on capitalist greed, said last year he would expropriate any bank that failed rather than bail it out.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-takes-over-local-stanford-bank-1626447.html


Yep. You are right. A very bad week for right wing Venezuela.

[bird gerhl]

12. Good!

I hope they kill themselves with grief and rot in criollo hell

[blitzen]

14. From BusinessInsider.com: "Is Stanford an Asset of the CIA"

geez, when even the business media is on to it, you know there has to be something there...


http://www.businessinsider.com/is-allen-stanford-a-cia-asset-2009-2

[EFerrari]

15. LOL! Oops. n/t

[JVS]

18. HAHA! Fuck them!

[Best_man23]

20. I think we have Bernie Madoff's cellmate

[Joanne98]

21. The courts need to pay them LAST!

[Judi Lynn]

22. Venezuelans tried to evade risk through offshore bank, but found a bust

Source: Associated Press

Updated: 26 minutes ago
Venezuelans tried to evade risk through offshore bank, but found a bust

By FABIOLA SANCHEZ | Associated Press Writer
5:56 PM EST, February 19, 2009

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans sunk at least $2.5 billion into the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, about a third of the money U.S. regulators hope to recover as they pursue their fraud case against the bank's Texas billionaire founder.

Many wealthy Latin Americans seek safe havens for their money outside their own countries, but Venezuelans had particular reason to be lured by R. Allen Stanford's promises of returns as high as 14 percent.

Strict currency controls, more than 30 percent inflation, high taxes and uncertainty about the socialist projects of President Hugo Chavez drove many to save dollars or euros abroad. Stanford seized on the opportunity, opening bank branches across Venezuela even as other international banks pulled out.

"I've seen it many times: Wealthy Latin Americans are concerned about stability in their countries or in their currencies and they're looking for a way to get their money out," said Ellen Zimiles, an expert in fraud risk management and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. "But no place is totally safe."


Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-venezuela-stanford,0,4903144.story

[Robbien]

23. Hopefully Venezuela isn't going to give those guys their money

out of state coffers.

Even more, Venezuela should be taking names and checking tax records. Subpoenas for everybody.

[Alcibiades]

24. Afraid of Chavez

they handed their money over to a thief.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[anonymous171]

25. This is why I put up with Chavez.

He keeps the oligarchs on their toes.

[originalpckelly]

26. OK, now that's just funny.

Boohoo! Boohoo! I lost my money! I may only be able to have 5 maids and two houses now!

[bemildred]

27. Stanford failure panic spreads to Peru and Venezuela

Peru and Venezuela have become the latest countries to intervene in local banks controlled by the Stanford group as it faces fraud accusations. Peru's securities regulator suspended local operations of the Stanford Financial Group for 30 days.

It follows action by Panama, Ecuador and Antigua after billionaire Sir Allen Stanford was accused in connection with an 8 billion US dollars investment fraud.

The regulators are hoping to calm customers worried about investments.

Sir Allen, a 58-year-old Texan, has not been seen by officials since the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil case on Tuesday. SEC said Sir Allen and two other executives promised clients unrealistic returns on certificates of deposit.

http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=16158&formato=HTML

[bemildred]

28. Venezuela seizes, sells fraud suspect’s bank

CARACAS. Venezuela yesterday announced the immediate seizure and sale of a local bank owned by Texas magnate and top cricket promoter Allen Stanford, who is accused of defrauding investors around the world.

Faced with a run on the bank by panicked Venezuelans, and amid swirling allegations of enormous international fraud, Caracas "has made a decision to intervene and to immediately sell the bank", said Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez.

The bank, which has 15 branches in the country, had already received offers from interested parties, he said.

Rodriguez stressed that the decision was not related to his own country’s financial situation, which he described as "stable".

http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=680&cat=2

[bemildred]

29. Venezuela, Peru and Mexico act

Latin American authorities on Thursday moved against the local operations of the Stanford business empire, as thousands of individual depositors across the region waited anxiously for news of their savings.

Venezuela seized the local operations of Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, which was charged with fraud by US regulators earlier this week, after hundreds of investors scrambled to recover their funds.

In Peru, the authorities moved to take control of Stanford’s local business, while Mexico’s banking regulator said it was investigating the local Stanford bank affiliate for possible violation of banking laws.

Up to three-quarters of the $8bn in certificates of deposit that the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US financial regulator, has accused Stanford International Bank of selling fraudulently are understood to have been bought in its offices in Latin America.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/73a04c1e-febc-11dd-b19a-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

[Judi Lynn]

30. Well-off Venezuelans say Chavez led them to Stanford

Well-off Venezuelans say Chavez led them to Stanford
Yesterday, 04:18 pm

Droves of middle-class and well-heeled Venezuelans invested with Texan financier Allen Stanford, who is accused of "massive fraud," because they say they feared their money was not safe at home under socialist President Hugo Chavez. Skip related content

Venezuelan money is estimated to represent more than one-quarter of the $8 billion (5.6 billion pounds) that U.S. investigators say was invested in fraudulent Stanford certificates of deposit with impossibly high interest rates.

~snip~
With limits on buying and selling foreign currency, many Venezuelans used black-market third parties to convert their bolivars before they invested in Stanford's dollar-denominated accounts.

"It was as if this branch in Caracas was actually located in Miami," said one Stanford client who invested for 14 years.

Investors gathered at Stanford International Bank's Caracas offices on Thursday fretted that the government would take an interest in the overseas investment operation and find out people had sidestepped currency controls.

"Lots of people are worried the government will come in and ask where their million dollar deposit came from," said a client with a 14-year history with Stanford.

Another concern for Venezuelan investors is that the government could make them repatriate any money recovered from Stanford at the official exchange rate, increasing losses.

More:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20090220/tpl-uk-stanford-venezuela-chavez-sb-c31991c.html

[justinaforjustice]

33. `Sanford -- Another UBS, But Even More Illegal.

The UBS Swiss bank was just convicted of illegally enabling wealthy Americans to avoid paying taxes by hiding their money in secret, Swiss bank accounts. It appears that the Sanford's bank was similarly enabling wealthy Venezuelans to avoid lawful taxes and the currency exchange regulations by putting their funds in Antigua securities.

But the rich Venezuelans who tried to evade Venezuelan laws are in even worse shape that the Americans who used UBS. It seems that Sanford was running a Ponzi scheme, just like Madoff, and the Venezuelans have lost billions of dollars. Wow, karma comes quickly.

[Joanne98]

31. Spoiled brats unite!

[JCMach1]

32. KARMA

ROFLMAO

[burrowowl]

34. Couldn't happen to

a "nicer bunch of people"!


:rofl:

Will it 'learn' the greedy and exploitational types? To be continued! And the US of A interfering!?