Antigua : During the second day of the 4th Annual Anti-Money Laundering Conference yesterday, there was one recurring theme — the biggest financial blunder in Antigua & Barbuda’s history and its orchestrator, R Allen Stanford.
Locked away for a natural life term, Stanford has not been forgotten, not by a long shot, in Antigua & Barbuda or the region at large.
The multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme debacle was used as a cautionary tale to bring a bit of lucidity to the 150 financial sector representatives present at the two-day conference at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa.
Although the theme of facilitator Malcolm Arthurs’ presentation yesterday was disclosure orders and avoiding becoming liable for frauds committed by clients, it was his involvement in the Stanford victims’ recovery effort that was of keen interest to the audience.
Arthurs is a solicitor with the British Virgin Island special investigative law firm, Martin Kenney & Co, that was retained by Grant Thornton to represent the current joint liquidators of Stanford International Bank to assist with legal work in relation to the Stanford victims estate and advocacy for the estate.
When asked, “So where is Allen’s money?” by a participant, he said, “We are still looking.” The attorney added that of the billions, a portion has already been identified.
“The bulk of it is invested right now in large swatches of property here in Antigua and some of it is frozen in Canada. One hundred million is frozen in the UK,” Arthurs disclosed.
He added, “Essentially, there is a massive chunk that remains unaccounted for and believe you me, we are looking for it.”
The solicitor also explained the Stanford Ponzi scheme was orchestrated with the use of certificates of deposit (CDs) that “were essentially bonds” that were sold to clients. However, he cautioned the group not to believe a too-good-to-be-true prospect of guaranteed returns.
“You give us your money and at the end of every year, we give you back your money plus 10 per cent?” he queried. “I don’t need to say to anybody in the room, if anybody says that to you, that they are going to return regular return on any investment … your antenna should be sky high. No one, no one can guarantee returns of any sort. It is impossible,” he said.
During his presentation, the lawyer cautioned the financial industry stakeholders to be diligent in order to prevent such frauds occurring on their watch.
“The most important elements in any fraud are the accountant, the trust manager, the fiduciaries, the bankers,” he declared. “All of you in your own way, sometimes mostly without knowing it, are the most important element in any fraud or money laundering scheme.”
In an interview with OBSERVER Media, Arthurs said that “vigilance” and having clients’ “interest at heart” are the key to financial sector stakeholders’ success.
“They (sector representatives) should also be thinking about the wider public as well, because their actions can affect the greater public, depending on the type of work and transactions they are being asked to conduct,” he noted.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Minimizing Global Threats through Strategic Compliance and Fraud Prevention”. The conference’s goal was to promote and strengthen regional awareness and knowledge of financial crime and to present new strategies and solutions.
Local company KAW Management Services Ltd hosted the conference.
