James Allen Father of Rorbert Allen Stanford to Testify to the SEC

On Tuesday afternoon, FOX Business tracked down James Stanford, father of Robert Allen Stanford, the financier being investigated for an $8 billion fraud in connection with Stanford Financial Group.

The elder Stanford, James, who spoke to FOX Business in Robert Allen’s hometown of Mexia, Texas, is listed as the “Chairman Emeritus” of the Board of Directors at Stanford Financial Group. He was the founder of the company, and turned it over to his son in 1993.

The elder Stanford will travel to Waco, Texas, later this afternoon to answer questions posed by federal investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission pertaining to the alleged Ponzi scheme that his son may be involved in.

The SEC is investigating whether Robert Allen Stanford’s Antigua-based bank illegally sold $8 billion worth of CDs through Stanford Financial Group based in Houston, Texas Stanford allegedly promised investors a 10% return on those CDs, amounting to a Ponzi scheme or fraud.

However, James Stanford told FOX Business it was “common,” to offer CDs at an interest rate a point or two higher than what banks in the U.S. were offering at the time. He insists there was no fraud in the operation at all.

“This is a rush to judgment on the part of the government,” James Stanford told FOX Business. “I feel that my son Allen Stanford and Jim Davis are completely honorable people. I have been associated in this affair with them for many years, and I want the country and the world to know I think they are completely above board.”

“Time alone will show that this whole thing is completely not a scam,” added the elder Stanford.

Mr. Stanford will speak to the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday afternoon without an attorney present.

Fox News