In the United States, a Texas businessman has been sentenced to 110 years in prison for cheating investors out of more than $7 billion over 20 years.
Allen Stanford was once considered one of the richest men in the United States, with an estimated net worth of more than $2 billion.
However, much of that wealth was built on fraud.
Prosecutors had asked that Stanford be sentenced to 230 years in prison. The judge decided on just under half of that.
To the end, Stanford denied running a Ponzi scheme and said he was being made a scapegoat.
His lawyer, Ali Fazel, said his client planned to appeal the verdict.
"Well of course we're disappointed in the verdict. We wanted--, we thought that we had filed enough motions and documents to illustrate why this wasn't a Ponzi scheme. We still don't think it's a Ponzi scheme. But the judge ruled and that's what it is. We filed a notice of appeal and I think there's a lot of issues to be appealed," Fazel said outside the Houston courtroom.
One of his victims, Angela Shaw, described Stanford's refusal to accept blame as "socipoathic."
"He refuses to accept blame. I think in a lot of ways, he's shown sociopathic behavior. His world is about Allen Stanford and it's not about all of these people who lost their savings. These were just numbers to him," Shaw said.
Shaw told the court that Stanford was worse than Bernard Madoff because he preyed on middle-class people like retired teachers, veterans, and refinery workers.
Madoff was sentenced to 150 years after pleading guilty in March 2009 to running a Ponzi scheme that targeted wealthy people.
Allen Stanford was once considered one of the richest men in the United States, with an estimated net worth of more than $2 billion.
However, much of that wealth was built on fraud.
Prosecutors had asked that Stanford be sentenced to 230 years in prison. The judge decided on just under half of that.
To the end, Stanford denied running a Ponzi scheme and said he was being made a scapegoat.
His lawyer, Ali Fazel, said his client planned to appeal the verdict.
"Well of course we're disappointed in the verdict. We wanted--, we thought that we had filed enough motions and documents to illustrate why this wasn't a Ponzi scheme. We still don't think it's a Ponzi scheme. But the judge ruled and that's what it is. We filed a notice of appeal and I think there's a lot of issues to be appealed," Fazel said outside the Houston courtroom.
One of his victims, Angela Shaw, described Stanford's refusal to accept blame as "socipoathic."
"He refuses to accept blame. I think in a lot of ways, he's shown sociopathic behavior. His world is about Allen Stanford and it's not about all of these people who lost their savings. These were just numbers to him," Shaw said.
Shaw told the court that Stanford was worse than Bernard Madoff because he preyed on middle-class people like retired teachers, veterans, and refinery workers.
Madoff was sentenced to 150 years after pleading guilty in March 2009 to running a Ponzi scheme that targeted wealthy people.