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Allen Stanford's Ponzi scheme recovery tops $1 billion

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Allen Stanford

(Reuters) — A court-appointed receiver has recouped more than $1 billion for victims of Texas financier Allen Stanford's Ponzi scheme, the largest by dollar amount other than Bernard Madoff's fraud, the receiver's lawyers said Monday.

The threshold was crossed when Ralph Janvey, the receiver for Stanford Financial Group, received $65 million from a June 2016 settlement with insurers including Lloyd's of London that won final court approval in January after years of litigation.

Mr. Janvey expects to distribute money from the settlement in the first quarter of 2022. As of April 29, he had received court approval to distribute about $550 million and had distributed $443 million.

Once considered a billionaire but later declared indigent, Mr. Stanford, 71, is serving a 110-year prison sentence following his 2012 conviction for running a $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme affecting approximately 18,000 former investors.

Prosecutors said Mr. Stanford sold fraudulent high-yielding certificates of deposit through his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank and used investor money to make risky investments and fund a lavish lifestyle.

The fraud lasted about two decades and was uncovered in February 2009.

“When the receivership started, the receiver found only $63 million in a bank that was supposed to be holding more than $7 billion,” Kevin Sadler, a Baker Botts partner representing Mr. Janvey, said in an interview. “It has taken more than 12 years, but getting to $1 billion is a significant achievement.”

More recoveries are possible.

Recovery efforts from Mr. Madoff's Ponzi scheme have recouped more than $18 billion for victims.

Mr. Madoff died in April at age 82 while serving a 150-year prison term. His fraud was uncovered in December 2008.