Pirates of the Caribbean: Stanford, drugs and the CIA (updated)

So far, this blog has neglected our nation's most infamous lost-and-found Texan, Sir Allen Stanford. You've probably read about him elsewhere, but you may not know the juicier details -- by which I mean the narco stuff and the CIA stuff.

Yes, he's American, and yes, that really is his name. Before taking French leave (the FBI caught up with him at his girlfriend's home), he bilked investors of some $8 billion. He did this, in part, by establishing Stanford International Bank, run by family members and cronies and located in the Caribbean.

According to the SEC, the bank

sold approximately $8bn worth of certificates of deposit to investors, promising "improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates"

You may remember an old adage, oft-heard during the S&L debacle: The best way to rob a bank is to own one. His shennanigans may cause a region-wide upheaval:

"The fallout threatens catastrophic and immediate consequences" for the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, said Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer. It also could rattle the economies of smaller nations throughout the region.

As you may recall, Stanford was mentioned in yesterday's column, which quoted a rag I like to call the Irritable Bowel Daily. The IBD begged us not to judge capitalism by his example, a request that gave me a hankering to judge capitalism by his example. More than that: I suspect that Mr. Stanford got by with "a little help from his friends." Y'see, I happen to be of the opinion that the average kid born in Mexia, Texas won't grow up to operate a con on that august level unless, somewhere along the way, he makes some powerful allies.

How powerful? Here's a teaser:

On Thursday, more details were also disclosed on about Sir Allen's links with leading politicians in Washington, where he has spent more than £5 million wooing lobbyists and politicians in recent years, including donations of £22,000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

The President's aides said the money had been donated to charity as a result of the allegations.

The Obot pooh-poohing of that uncomfortable factoid will follow a very predictable pattern. (No need to say it, bots. Yes, I know that McCain got money too. Yes, I know that Those Evil, Evil Clintons probably did far worse in your eyes.) Still, it strikes me as odd that a good ol' boy running an operation with a stateside base in Houston would favor Obi and the "new Democrats"...

The Stanford Financial Group, through its political action committee and employees, has contributed $2.4 million to political candidates, parties and committees in the U.S. since 1989, with nearly two-thirds going to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks campaign spending...

Stanford and his wife Susan also donated $931,100 of their own money, with 78 percent going to Democrats, including $4,600 to President Barack Obama's presidential campaign last May 31. Records show $2,300 of that was returned on the same day.

Four years or so ago, Stanford was the kind of guy whom Tom Delay and Bob Ney could count on for contributions to their defense funds. Yet the same fellow tosses a million bucks at Democrats. In fact, he was lionized as a hero at the DNC convention in Denver. What does Stanford's endorsement say about the new nature of the party I once considered my political home?

Amusingly, this same Sir Allen Stanford appeared as a talking head on CNBC, where he gave sage counsel on the state of the economy.

Here's where it gets really interesting. Stanford also owned not one but two airlines: Caribbean Sun Airlines, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Caribbean Star Airlines, based in Antigua. The two entities are, we are told, unrelated.

Well, if you're a long-time reader, you can probably guess what I'm thinking. Oddball airlines...Florida...the Caribbean...run by a politically well-connected shady operator... Paging Daniel Hopsicker!

Check out this Q&A:

Q: Why was Stanford so successful in Latin America?

A: In part because the region has a history of bank failures, hyperinflation and political instability. The rise of populist governments such as Chavez and Ecuador's Rafael Correa have left wealthier residents worried the government could snatch their savings.

Peru, which has extensive illegal coca cultivation, has begun investigating possible links to narcotrafficking. The government of Colombia, the world's largest cocaine producer, has not mentioned any such investigation.

Let's take it further. From the Independent:

More than 20 years ago, the authorities repeatedly probed Allen Stanford’s alleged links to some of the world’s biggest and most powerful drug lords. Despite no fewer than five investigations into suspected drug money laundering by law enforcers ranging from Scotland Yard to the FBI, no charges were ever brought.

Let this sink in. The American authorities have thought for the past two decades that this guy was involved in drugs. Yet he was allowed to run an airline service between Florida and the Caribbean.

Why doesn't Stanford simply drive off to old Mexico? (He's not under arrest -- yet.) Because he might run into some folks whom he fears more than he fears Uncle Sam...

Cricket tycoon Sir Allen Stanford may have been stumped by the FBI but there are far worse fates than having your bails removed... Agents claim he is more worried over alleged links to a Mexican drug gang, which beheads and mutilates victims, than he is about being found by the authorities.

Sir Allen, FBI sources say, is suspected of money laundering for the "Gulf Cartel" and the crooks may fear for their funds.

One official said: "He just seemed resigned and possibly relieved. There is a strong suspicion he was using his Caribbean-based operation to filter crime money. It's not improbable that some of his lesser-known clients may want to have a talk with him."

It has been claimed Mexican authorities recently seized one of the 58-year-old's aircraft after allegedly finding cheques on board linked to the Gulf Cartel.

Basically, he was laundering money for Mexico's Gulf Cartel. And yes, his airlines were part of the operation...

Allen Stanford’s office and banking buildings on Antigua were constructed conveniently close to the airport. According to the local rumour, certain aircraft didn’t have to clear customs in exactly the same manner as most others.

A number of stories refer to the Mexican authorities detaining Stanford's plane and finding the (possibly) incriminating checks. So far, no article known to me puts a date on this occasion. I am just cynical enough to suspect that the Mexicans would not target a billionaire's aircraft -- and look for something so small as a check -- unless they had been tipped off, or unless someone had not received a pay-off. We've seen this sort of thing before.

One article alleges that the SEC action may have impeded the drugs investigation. I can't blame the SEC. It was a pretty damned long-running investigation -- even the Mexicans were ahead of us! -- and the SEC could not wait forever.

Update: The Houston Chronicle has been doing great work on this story.

In the late 1990s, according to court documents, operatives of the Juarez cartel began opening accounts at Stanford’s Antigua-based bank in an effort to launder money amassed under one of Mexico’s most vicious drug lords, Amado Carrillo Fuentes. Together, they used Stanford International Bank to open 10 accounts and deposit $3 million — a small sliver of the cartel’s fortunes but enough to pique authorities’ interest.

Now, more than a decade later, federal sources tell the Chronicle, any alleged Stanford connection to drug cartels and their money could lie buried in the paperwork gathered for the Security and Exchange Commission’s civil inquiry.

So. Perhaps the SEC action could bury the investigation in the drugs?

Okay, I know what you're dying to ask: Where's the CIA connection? With a tale like this one, you just know that the spooks must be lurking in the background.

Happy to oblige. Here's a story from last November...

Officials from Venezuelan military intelligence raided a branch of his [Stanford's] offshore bank over claims that its employees were paid by the CIA to spy on the south American country.

State-owned broadcaster Venezolana TV reported that the raid was part of an investigation into individuals it said had "allegedly committed the crime of espionage" and "may have been part of the US government".

It is understood the spying claims centre on three of the bank's employees and in particular its head of security, who had previously worked for the US federal government. He was first accused of being a CIA spy when he was hired by Stanford just over two years ago.

At the time, the few observers who noticed the story laughed it off as an attention-seeking ploy by Chavez. But there's more from the Business Insider, which asks: Is Allen Stanford An Asset Of The CIA?.

As we noted earlier, a federal agency killed the SEC's investigation into Allen Stanford back in 2006. We don't know which one it is, but some commenters suspect it could've been the CIA.

Let's posit, for the moment, that the suspicions voiced above (by a business writer, not by a conspiracy crank) are valid. Let's suppose that the CIA shut down the 2006 investigation because Stanford was helping the Agency penetrate Venezuela. What conclusions should we draw from the fact that a guy like this suddenly decided that Barack Obama would make a really good president?

Snob appeal: One of the amusing aspects of this tale is Sir Allen's rather pathetic affection for the trappings of aristocracy. Although he is the grandson of a barber in Mexia, Texas (not far from Waco), he developed a passion for the veddy English sport of cricket. (The cricket world considered him vulgar.) He pretended to have a familial link to Leland Stanford, founder of the famous university. (The link seems to be a figment of Sir Allen's imagination.) And even though his "knighthood" comes from a shadowy order in Antigua, he always encouraged people to call him Sir.

I once corresponded with someone who had worked with a fake "order of knighthood," which handed out patents of nobility for a price. (Although I won't name the order, I'll mention that the snakey fellow running it also makes a fortune selling crappy "hidden history" books about sacred bloodlines and similar rot.) My informant said that the primary customers for this knighthood scam were pretentious, well-off Americans, not Europeans.

Hey, I would be overjoyed to sell you a title, if a title would help you with your self-esteem issues. And for a mere $500, I'll sell you a box filled with premium-grade blue sky. We're talkin' top quality stuff here, folks...