By Ilaina Jonas
NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Official Stanford Investors
Committee and the court-appointed receiver of Allen Stanford's
financial empire have sued Antigua and Barbuda, the Eastern
Caribbean Central Bank and 23 former Stanford Financial Group Co
executives, accusing them of assisting in the financier's $7
billion Ponzi scheme.
The committee is seeking at least $90 million of transfers
to Antigua, according to the complaint filed on Feb. 15 in U.S.
Federal Court in Dallas. It also is seeking punitive damages. It
accuses Antigua and Barbuda of shielding Stanford's activities
in exchange for loans that were not repaid and real estate.
The suit accuses the twin-island nation of being a "'blood
brother' to Stanford, and an integral component of Stanford's
fraudulent enterprise", according to court documents.
Stanford, 62, is appealing his March 2012 conviction and
110-year prison sentence over what prosecutors called a massive
fraud centered on the sale of bogus certificates of deposit by
his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.
"Stanford used Antigua as a regulatory haven from which to
steal customer funds, and Antigua sustained its struggling
economy with Stanford's ill-gotten largesse," the committee said
in court documents.
The court-appointed receiver for Stanford International Bank
filed a suit against the 23 former Stanford executives.
The cases are The Official Stanford Investors Committee v.
Antigua and Barbuda, 3:13-cv-0760; The Official Stanford
Investors Committee v. Bank of Antigua, 3:13-cv-0762; Janvey v.
Alvarado, 3:13-cv-0775. The suits were filed in U.S. District
Court, Northern District of Texas in Dallas.
Representatives from the embassy of Antigua and Barbuda, and
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank could not be reached for comment
on Monday evening.
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