April 2, 2009 — Allen Stanford, the erstwhile billionaire accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of running an $8 billion fraud operation out of his Stanford International Bank in Antigua, personally filed his response March 30, saying he cannot afford an attorney.
"This answer is filed pro se because I, R. Allen Stanford, have been unable to retain counsel due to all of my assets and money having been seized by the actions of the court-appointed receiver Ralph Janvey," Stanford wrote in the introduction to the filing.
Stanford had bought property and made plans for large offices on St. Croix. (See: "St. Croix Projects Uncertain as Feds File Charges Against Stanford.")While Stanford filed the court papers personally, according to a Bloomberg News report, Houston criminal defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin actually wrote up the 15 page document. DeGuerin said he could not sign or deliver the filing because doing so would make him susceptible to being drafted by the court for the duration, and he could not work for free.
The filing, dated March 25 and filed March 30, is Stanford's first formal legal response to the SEC's fraud complaint. In it, he denies all criminal allegations, agreeing only to assertions about his name, home address, locations of his businesses and what category of business they are. It is a short document with no explanations beyond asserting some allegations are "admitted" and others "denied," providing no glimpse into the factual and legal arguments that will be raised in the course of any legal defense.
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