February 18, 2009

U.S. charges Texas billionaire with "massive" fraud

Texas politicians start getting their stories straight, passports in order.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Allen Stanford and two of his executives of fraudulently selling $8 billion in high-yield certificates of deposit in a scheme that stretched from Texas to the Caribbean.

"We are alleging a fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world," said Rose Romera of the SEC office in Fort Worth, giggling slightly over the word "tentacles."

Why are we posting this? Because of a special appearance by rethuglican Senator John Cornyn!

The Stanford Financial Group paid for republican John Cornyn and an unnamed companion -- later identified as his "wife" -- to take a November 2004 trip to Antigua and Barbuda, the tiny, hedonistic Carribean island where the company has its offshore banking headquarters.

The three-day trip is described as a "financial services industry fact-finding mission hosted by constituent company with substantial operations on site."

Is that what they're calling hookers and blow now? Or does "substantial operations" mean "open bar"? Because there's been no reply to the question of "what facts were found, exactly, dude?"

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