Payouts finally begin for investors swindled in R. Allen Stanford's $7 billion Ponzi scheme
Source: AP
HOUSTON — Investors in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme orchestrated by convicted ex-Texas tycoon R. Allen Stanford have begun getting back some of what they lost after a recovery process that has dragged on for more than 4½ years.
However, the amounts being returned to many who lost their life savings ultimately will be only a pittance of their investments — about 1 percent of what they put in. The largest claim being paid out in the first distribution of funds to victims of Stanford's scheme is about $50,000, while the smallest is $2.81. Many of the claims seemed to be in the range of $1,000 to $4,000, according to court documents filed late last month.
British retiree Kate Freeman, who lost $820,000 in the scheme, said she and other investors continue to be frustrated by the slowness of the recovery process.
"After nearly five years, it's just the biggest disappointment — isn't it? — that this is all we're getting," Freeman, in her late 50s, said Tuesday in a telephone interview from her home in Antigua.
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