Billionaire Stanford Owes $1.2 Million To St. Croix Businesses

Texas tycoon Allen Stanford, the head of a vast financial empire charged with carrying out an $8 billion investment fraud, owes about $1.2 million to various businesses on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, according to public records.

Stanford, 58, owns about $34 million worth of property on St. Croix, but those assets are among his personal assets frozen by federal authorities investigating the alleged fraud. Stanford International Bank is accused of ripping off thousands of investors by selling fraudulent certificates of deposit with promises of improbably high interest rates.

At least seven St. Croix businesses have filed liens on Stanford’s St. Croix properties, seeking to be paid for bills they say are owed by the financial advisor. The companies, including two architectural firms, an asphalt company, a firm that installs solar panels, and a property surveyor, are seeking to be paid before Stanford’s financial assets are seized and liquidated to reimburse his defrauded clients.

The Internal Revenue Service also filed a lien in August 2008 against Stanford and his wife for about $104.2 million. Stanford and his wife, Susan, have since filed for divorce.

Stanford and two of his top advisors were charged in February 2009 in a civil action by the Securities and Exchange Commission. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the alleged scheme.

Stanford had extensive business interests in St. Croix and Antigua as well as in Europe and Latin America. In the days after the fraud charges were announced, thousands of nervous investors scurried to try and withdraw their money from accounts associated with Stanford.

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