Ponzi scheme victims have been waiting two years to recover losses from R. Allen Stanford's alleged investment fraud, and these 20,000 investors may be waiting for a while. A clash between the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the federally chartered Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC) centers on whether these victims are due payment at all.The alleged 20-year Stanford Ponzi scheme involved certificates of deposit through Stanford International Bank, located in Antigua. Stanford allegedly touted the CDs as being conservative, liquid, and capable of higher returns than CDs purchased in the US. Although Stanford has denied any wrongdoing, he is accused of undocumented loans to himself that were used for his personal financial gain. The SIPC believes that the investors are not due any payment because the Stanford case did not involve theft along with the fraud. The SEC, on the other hand, believes that the victims deserve payments in this case and have devised a plan wherein victims would receive payments of up to $500,000 each. In what's been called a "highly unusual" move, the SEC has threatened to sue the SIPC if the Stanford investors are not paid. A decision is not expected until mid-September. The investment fraud lawyers with Meyer Wilson have recovered millions of dollars for victims of Ponzi schemes nationwide through stockbroker mediation, arbitration, and litigation.
