Caracas Court Freezes Assets of Board Members of Stanford Bank

A Venezuelan court has frozen the assets of board members who headed a bank controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, prosecutors said Wednesday. Venezuela's government last week seized temporary control of Stanford Bank SA after panicked withdrawals on news of U.S. fraud charges against Stanford and three of his companies. Though part of the TX billionaire's Antigua-based empire, the Venezuelan bank is not named in the fraud complaint by U.S. regulators. The court in Caracas blocked bank accounts of the 8 board members and put a hold on their property at the request of a special prosecutor leading an investigation in Venezuela. A court last week barred the outgoing board members from leaving the country. Venezuela's government hopes to appraise the value of Stanford Bank SA within two weeks to put it up for sale, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said today. Venezuelan banking officials are studying the bank's finances to "establish how much the bank is worth to proceed to an auction. We hope it doesn't take more than 15 days" to finish evaluating the bank's finances and proceed to a sale," Mr. Rodriguez said in an interview with the Venezuelan television channel Televen. He reiterated, without mentioning names, that some expressed interest in buying the bank. Rodriguez said the buyer would assume debts as well as shares. It was unclear what would be done with the proceeds of a sale. Clients who made a run on the bank withdrew an estimated $93M or 36.8% of its deposits, in Venezuelan currency. Although the bank is now under the administrative control of President Hugo Chavez's government, the Texas financier remains its main shareholder -- & his assets in the U.S. have been frozen by U.S. regulators. U.S. authorities have accused Stanford of leading a fraud scheme involving billions of dollars, in part through Stanford International Bank in Antigua and Barbuda. Venezuelans seeking a safer haven for their dollars were important customers of that Antigua bank. Venezuela's banking superintendent, Edgar Hernandez Behrens, said Venezuelans invested between $2.3 & $3B in the offshore bank.