According to officials, who are appointed to liquidate Stanford International Bank (SIB), it will take at least five years to locate money lost by investors in the alleged $8bn ??Ponzi? scheme run by Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford.
SIB, the Antigua-based offshore bank, had assets of hundreds of millions of dollars held in its name, compared with about $7.2bn owed to depositors, according to Nigel Hamilton-Smith, one of the liquidators appointed by a court in Antigua.
Mr Hamilton-Smith, a client partner at UK-based Vantis Business Recovery Services, said dozens of investigators were trying to locate and obtain all the assets that might belong to the bank and are scattered across the globe.
SIB was placed into liquidation on Wednesday after it became apparent that there were a large number of investors seeking to withdraw funds from the bank when its cash reserves were not adequate, said Mr Hamilton-Smith. Regulators allege that the Ponzi scheme operated primarily through SIB, which sold about $8bn of certificates of deposit to investors by promising improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates.
But the Stanford group of companies comprises at least 175 entities ranging from banks to restaurants to bullion dealers in more than 100 places including Houston, Montreal, Caracas, Quito and St Croix, according to the Dallas-based US receiver, Ralpy Janvey.
