Alan Stanford 'was informant for US anti-drug agents'

[Slimprofits]

Authorities accused of turning a blind eye to financier's banking business

By Cahal Milmo
Monday, 11 May 2009

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...s-1682649.html

A BBC Panorama programme, to be screened tonight, alleges that the 6ft 4in-tall businessman may have been allowed to run his banking business unfettered for up to a decade because he was passing information on to America's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about the money-laundering activities of drug baron clients from Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.

His status as a confidential informant could have secured Stanford a degree of protection from financial regulators such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and may explain why a SEC investigation into his dealings in 2006 was quietly dropped following a request by another American government agency.

A source close to the DEA told Panorama: "We were convinced that Stanford's bank attracted millions of narco-dollars but it was very difficult to get the evidence to nail him. The word is that Stanford has been a confidential informer for the DEA since at least 1999."

BBC Panorama episode link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kfrtv

[Slimprofits]

Re: Alan Stanford 'was informant for US anti-drug agents'

The only mainstream source aimed at an American audience to pick up on this was Vanity Fair.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/dai...-stanford.html

[Slimprofits]

Re: Alan Stanford 'was informant for US anti-drug agents'

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...0,792221.story

Bail set for ex-Miami DEA chief indicted in Allen Stanford scandal

FORT LAUDERDALE - Tom Raffanello, the former chief of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Miami office, appeared in handcuffs and leg chains this morning in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

Raffanello, who led the agency's cases against infamous Panama strongman Manuel Noriega and Medellin cartel kingpin Fabio Ochoa, was indicted by a federal grand jury a day earlier for ordering the shredding of records belonging to disgraced banker Allen Stanford. He faces charges of conspiracy, obstruction and destruction of records in a federal investigation.

A federal magistrate has ordered he be released on bail after he posts a $100,000 personal surety bond. Raffanello must also surrender his passport and appear for his arraignment at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 18.

Raffanello, who appeared with attorney Jeff Crockett, answered basic questions from the magistrate in a quick hearing.

Raffanello, 61, who left the DEA five years ago to become Stanford's local security chief, was charged with ordering workers to destroy thousands of documents just days after government agents shut down the banking empire in a massive fraud case.

Prosecutors say the records — including secret background reports on employees and potential investors — were hauled away from the company's security bunker in Fort Lauderdale after a federal judge ordered that no company paperwork be destroyed.

[Slimprofits]

Re: Alan Stanford 'was informant for US anti-drug agents'

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...d/6641958.html

Since late June Stanford has been held in the privately run facility in Conroe, where the U.S. Marshals Service keeps many pretrial federal detainees. Stanford previously asked to be moved from the jail because of crowding, poor ventilation and inadequate medical attention.

The fight with a cellmate occurred about 10 a.m. Thursday. Stanford was transferred to a Conroe area hospital where he was treated for a concussion, a broken nose and two black eyes, said one of his court-appointed lawyers, Kent Schaffer.

He is now in the prison infirmary.

[Chomsky]

Re: Alan Stanford 'was informant for US anti-drug agents'

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...d/6641958.html

That's not what he expected in return for his white-collar crimes, that's for sure.

[cjppjc]

Re: Alan Stanford 'was informant for US anti-drug agents'

That's not what he expected in return for his white-collar crimes, that's for sure.

Too bad. It was an awfull thing he did. Justice served. Or as the theme song to Baretta said "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."