Allen Stanford jailed for 110 years in fraud case, Allen Stanford

Allen Stanford jailed for 110 years in fraud case, Allen Stanford
Allen Stanford, the disgraced Texan cricket financier, has been sentenced to 110 years in prison after being found guilty of a multi-billion dollar fraud © Getty Images

Allen Stanford, the disgraced Texan cricket financier, has been sentenced to 110 years in prison after being found guilty of a multi-billion dollar fraud © Getty Images

Allen Stanford jailed for 110 years in fraud case

Stanford trial
Allen Stanford jailed for 110 years in fraud case
ESPNcricinfo staff
June 14, 2012

Allen Stanford

Allen Stanford, the disgraced Texan financier who came to embody English cricket's most embarrassing alliance, has been sentenced to 110 years in jail for one of the biggest frauds in history. He was convicted in March on 13 of 14 charges of defrauding investors of more than $7 billion (£4.5 billion).

Stanford was hailed as cricket's American sugar daddy when he bankrolled an international cricket tournament in Antigua that promised to transform cricket finances in England and West Indies and, in the eyes of ECB executives, provide a rival to the burgeoning Indian Premier League.

But his financial empire collapsed under an investigation by United States regulators. Since his arrest in 2009, he has spent three years in jail without bail.

Stanford, whose trial was delayed on health grounds after he was beaten up by prison inmates, has always denied his guilt and told the District Judge David Hittner at his sentencing hearing: "I did not defraud anybody".

Stanford's statement lasted around 40 minutes as he stuck to his claim that he did not run a Ponzi scheme - a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization - and that his financial affairs only collapsed once investigations into his affairs became known.

He told the judge: "I'm not here to ask for sympathy or forgiveness or to throw myself at your mercy. I did not run a Ponzi scheme. I didn't defraud anybody."

Prosecutors had asked for a 230-year sentence, with defence lawyers arguing for a lenient term of 44 months.

It was all a world away from the night in 2008 that England and West Indies fought out a Twenty20 match in Antigua for a winner-takes-all prize of £20m. Stanford socialised in a touchy-feely fashion with England players' wives, waved to the crowds, entered the dressing rooms at will, and finished the night with what was virtually an impromptu cabaret.

The deal had been publicised in ostentatious style as Stanford was allowed to land his private helicopter on the outfield at Lord's, after which he presented a Perspex box filled with $20 million in prize money in front of smiling ECB officials.

Stanford signed a five year deal with the ECB worth $100 million in total, an episode from which some believe English cricket has never entirely recovered. But financial experts have repeatedly suggested that his real victims are the investors, whose estimates suggest have received back about 5% of their investment. Cricket, presenting itself as victims in a highly-complex case, has not returned a penny.

In Antigua, where financial regulation was relatively lax, Stanford had a private terminal at the airport, was one of its biggest employers on the island and was said to be worth more than Antigua's GDP. He was knighted in 2006 but after the extent of his fraud was revealed he was stripped of the title.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

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Danish Kaneria charged by ECB over fixing claims

Spot-fixing

Kaneria charged by ECB over fixing claims

George Dobell

April 5, 2012

The ECB is to bring disciplinary proceedings against Danish Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield in relation to spot-fixing allegations. Both will face charges of breaching the ECB's anti-corruption directives.

Westfield, a former Essex fast bowler, was jailed for four months in January after he admitted underperforming in a Pro40 match against Durham in September 2009. While Kaneria, the former Pakistan spinner and Essex's overseas player for several seasons, was named by the judge at London's Central Criminal Court as the orchestrator of the plot, he was never charged by the police, on the grounds of insufficient evidence. If he is found guilty as part of the ECB proceedings, however, he could still face a worldwide ban from the game.

An ECB disciplinary panel, chaired by Gerard Elias QC, will sit in the first week of May to consider the charges.

Westfield, who is expected to be released from jail this month having pleaded guilty to the criminal charges, is likely to appear before the disciplinary panel and appeal for leniency on the grounds of his age and naivety at the time of the offence. During the court case, Westfield suggested he had been pressurised into participating in the plot by Kaneria.

Kaneria, meanwhile, has continued to protest his innocence. He remains a professional cricketer in Pakistan - he recently captained Sind in the final of the Pentangular Cup - and will know that, if he wants to sustain his career, he will have to clear his name. He may be nervous of travelling to the UK, however, fearing fresh criminal charges could be brought. Three of his former Pakistan teammates - Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt - were jailed last year for their role in a separate spot-fixing scandal.

Several current players, including Derbyshire's Tony Palladino, Warwickshire's Varun Chopra - both of whom were with Essex at the time of the alleged offence - and former Essex captain Mark Pettini, are expected to provide evidence at the ECB hearing.

Under ICC regulations, any ban imposed by the ECB must be recognised and replicated by all cricket playing nations.

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo