Stanford and Madoff have more in common than you think
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 16:45
“Sir” R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire recently charged with fraud by the SEC, has more in common with Bernie Madoff than you think. Sure, they’re both under SEC fraud investigations, but what you probably don’t know is that both men liked to invest in an alternative asset class of sorts – Politicians.
The now famous ponzi-king Bernard Madoff amassed a fortune while running his investment scam and he enjoyed playing politics with some of the money. He and his wife, Ruth, have given $238,200 to federal candidates. His company, Madoff Securities gave about $400,000 in federal campaign contributions. Bernie’s favorite congress people, judging by contributions, included Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (D), and NY Senator Chuck Schumer (D).
Sir R. Allen Stanford (Yes, he actually was knighted) was recently charged by the SEC with fraud and multiple violations of U.S. securities laws for alleged “massive ongoing fraud” involving $8 billion in certificates of deposits. Mr. Stanton is a billionaire who, like Mr. Madoff, made investments in politicians.
The Stanford Financial Group has given $2.4 million to candidates in both parties since 2000. Stanford and his wife Susan have coughed up almost another million dollars of their own money, giving 2/3 of the money to democrats. Stanford’s company spent another $5 million lobbying congress since 1999. The image below graphs the lobbying money spent over the years, notice the bulk of the money was spent last year in 2008 (Source: OpenSecrets.org).
In 2004, Stanford personally gave $25,000 to the Republican National Committee, $25,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2005, and then switched back to Republican in 2008 giving $28,500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Mr. Stanford’s favorite congress members, as judged by campaign contributions, are:
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla)
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz)
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
Rep. Charlie A. Gonzalez (D-Texas)
The former Republican US presidential candidate John McCain is number 2 on the list. I wonder if things would have worked out differently for Mr. Stanford if his “#2 Guy” was successful in capturing the precidency.
No related posts.
Stanford and Madoff have more in common than you think | Charting b…/b | mainetips.com says:
February 18th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
[...] Stanford and Madoff have more in common than you think | Charting b…/b [...]
Madoff » Stanford and Madoff have more in common than you think | Charting … says:
February 18th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
[...] chartingstocks1 wrote an interesting post today on Stanford and Madoff have more in common than you think | Charting …Here’s a quick excerptSir R. Allen Stanford, the texas billionaire recently charged with fraud by the SEC, has more in common with Bernie Madoff than you think. Sure, they’re both under SEC fraud investigations, but what you probably don’t know is that both … [...]
Who is in Charge in our rotten system « Divining the News (DTN) says:
February 19th, 2009 at 6:01 am
[...] –more– [...]
Vox Veritatis says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Stanford needs to have all of his assets confiscated and be thrown in jail NOW to await trial. NO bail for these criminal scum who most likely have get-away plans and secure locales to hide in, purchased with the millions/billions that they’ve pilfered. Chris Dodd, and anyone else on that list who have seats on Finance or Banking committees, needs to give up his/their post immediately, and should probably face a thorough investigation.
Madood made off with billions says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
[...] Stanford and Madoff have more in common than you think | Charting Stocks Is Madoff the tip of a money laundering pyramid in Israel? Bush SEC Holdovers Cite Executive Privilege, Refuse to Answer Questions at Madoff Hearing | Crooks and Liars [...]