BDO USA has agreed to pay $40 million to settle investor claims over money lost in R. Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
Stanford was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 110 years in prison for running the scheme, which involved selling certificates of deposit in a bank in Antigua that he controlled. Stanford was arrested in 2009 and accused of misrepresenting to investors that their money would be used to buy stocks and bonds, while instead spending much of the money on his real estate holdings and businesses.
Two of Stanford’s former accounting executives were also convicted in 2012 (see
BDO did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which was announced earlier this month.
“BDO Seidman was never the auditor of Stanford International Bank, the entity where Robert Allen Stanford committed his fraud,” said a statement from the firm. “BDO audited an affiliated company whose financial statements are not alleged by plaintiffs to have contained any material misstatements. However, after almost four years of litigation and the likelihood of more to come, this settlement makes the most sense for our partnership given our relevant insurance coverage and the costs, as well as the loss of time and energy, associated with continuing this case. With this settlement, the firm is making no admission of any wrongdoing.”
