WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) vowed to Bloomberg News Friday that he will chase Stanford International Bank assets “like a hound from hell” until victims of the Ponzi scheme are compensated for their losses. It’s been 10 years since the scheme was revealed. Thousands of people – including many Louisianans – lost their retirement savings.
In February, Sens. Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) sent a letter to Stanford’s Swiss bank, Societe Generale, urging the release of $210 million in assets.
Click here or the photo below to watch Sen. Kennedy’s full interview with Bloomberg.
Highlights:
Allen Stanford: “This is a very sad situation. What Stanford did is unconscionable. He’s in prison. He’s got a 110-year sentence to serve. He deserves every year of it.”
Louisiana Victims: “These are not wealthy people, who were victimized here. I’m not excusing what happened in the Madoff Ponzi scheme, but these are not wealthy people these are just average Louisianans.”
Meeting with SEC Chairman: “Well they’ve got a lot of legal excuses. I met with Jay Clayton, who is our SEC Chairman, doing a great job, met with him yesterday about this issue. He’s going to be in Louisiana over the next couple of months. We’re going to set a meeting with him and the lawyers, who are helping my people in Louisiana and many of those who were victimized by Standford. And we’re going to talk about this.”
Working with Sen. Cassidy: “Sen. Cassidy and I are just going to keep pounding them. We’re going to chase the bank like a hound from hell until we get this $210 million. They owe it. They need to pay it.”
Helping Louisiana: “I’m going to talk further with the lawyers in Louisiana. I want to help my people. I mean this is the 10th anniversary. Yes, it was $7 billion for God’s sakes. Yes, the receivers recovered $500 or $600 million, but half of it went to the lawyers and went in fees. And you know - this is unconscionable.”
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