MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

AS THE PRESS SPINS

A US jury found Allen Stanford guilty of 13 of the 14 charges he faced folloing a si!"
ee# trial in Houston Photo$ Reuters
SI%&N SA'S H&PE(U))' THE TRUTH *I)) &UT
+une 1,- .,1,
%ia/i 0each- (lorida
0' 1A2I1 ARTHUR *A)TERS
3If you shut u4 truth and 5ury it under the ground- it ill 5ut gro- and gather to itself
such e!4losi6e 4oer that the day it 5ursts through it ill 5lo u4 e6erything in its ay73
1reyfus$ His )ife and )etters
I ha6e already de/onstrated in /y anti"aard"inning series- 8As the Press S4ins "
Anato/y of an Aard"inning e!4ose8 that 19 for/er (lorida 5an# regulation director
Arthur %7 Si/on as re4eatedly and unfairly defa/ed 5y the %ia/i Herald- as he did
not- o6er the o5jections of the 5an#ing de4art/ent8s chief counsel Richard T7 1onelan-
a44ro6e of an agree/ent ith Allen Stanford et al to o4en an international trust
re4resentati6e office in %ia/i: .9 contrary to %ia/i Herald re4orts- the agree/ent he
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MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS
signed as in no ay illegal or contrary to state or federal la: 39 contrary to %ia/i
Herald re4orts- 1r7 Si/on did not 4er/it Stanford Trust ;o/4any )i/ited d<5<a Stanford
(iduciary In6estor Ser6ices to 6iolate (lorida la during his tenure as director of the
5an#ing di6ision: 49 contrary to %ia/i Herald re4orts- (lorida la did not 4rohi5it such
an office fro/ o4ening: =9 contrary to the %ia/i Herald re4orts- Stanford could ha6e
otherise legally 4roceeded to o4en such an office- 5ut decided to su5/it to criteria
4ro4osed 5y the 1e4art/ent of 0an#ing- criteria that in 4rinci4le as already standard in
res4ect to out"of"state do/estic trust re4resentati6e offices: >9 contrary to the %ia/i
Herald re4orts- the agree/ent did not e!e/4t the (lorida re4resentati6e office of Stanford
Trust ;o/4any fro/ state and federal anti"/oney"laundering las or any other las
hatsoe6er including securities 6iolations: ?9 contrary to %ia/i Herald re4orts- the
actions 5rought against the Stanford @rou4 entities and related 4ersons are for securities
6iolations and not for trust re4resentati6e office acti6ities 4er se- therefore the regulatory
res4onsi5ility for that ould not ha6e 5een ith the state 5an#ing di6ision 5ut ith the
state securities di6ision and the federal regulatory agency7
'et for its s4urious- inaccurate and defa/atory re4orts- /ore of hich ill 5e dissected
later in this series- %ia/i Herald riters %ichael Sallah- Ro5 0arry- and )ucy Ao/isar
recei6ed 3the Society of Professional +ournalists8 4restigious Sig/a 1elta ;hi aard for
e!4osing see4ing go6ern/ent failures7777 Re4orters %ichael Sallah- Ro5 0arry and
)ucy Ao/isar ere recogniBed for their stories re6ealing ho (lorida regulators
4er/itted the no disgraced 5an#er " o6er the o5jections of the state8s chief 5an#ing
counsel " to o4en an unregistered office in %ia/i a decade ago7777 The re4orters777shoed
ho layers777hel4ed 4rotect Stanford fro/ go6ern/ent scrutiny hile he as e!4anding
his fraudulent 5an#ing netor# around the orld77773 C%ia/i Herald- %ay 4- .,1,9
Indeed- it is /y o4inion that the hole issue of hat as done or not done in res4ect to
Stanford Trust ;o/4any )i/ited d<5<a Stanford (iduciary In6estor Ser6ices- as an
international trust co/4any re4resentati6e office in (lorida- is /oot- and that the
re4resentati6e trust function in itself is a red herring inas/uch as it dras attention aay
fro/ the interest the nes4a4er 5usiness had in selling 4a4ers 5y any /eans 4ossi5le
including 5latant /isre4resentation of facts- or disregard of readily a6aila5le facts-
according to the ideological 4rejudice of the re4orters and editors- ho should ha6e
#non- gi6en the e6idence on hand and a6aila5le to the/- that they ere 5la/ing the
rong 4u5lic official and regulatory di6ision- just for starters7
That is- the %ia/i Herald riters and editors got the/sel6es a sca4egoat to 5la/e instead
of getting to the 5otto/ of the story7 It re/ains to 5e seen hy they did not select the
head of the securities di6ision as their sca4egoat- or 5etter yet- the elected official ith
ulti/ate discretion o6er financial regulation at the ti/e7 It as all too con6enient to
attac# Arthur %7 Si/on and s/ear a /an hose /any years of distinguished 4u5lic
ser6ice they #ne all too little a5out7
Indeed- if %ichael Sallah- Ro5 0arry- )ucy Ao/isar- and their in6estigations editor
Ronnie @reene had 5een true to the o5jecti6e re4orting standards 4rofessed 5y
4rofessional journalists- they ould ha6e focused their in6estigation on the securities
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MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS
fraud and the state and federal agencies res4onsi5le for regulating securities instead of
/a#ing false allegations a5out %r7 Si/on and the 5an#ing di6ision- there5y feeding into
the hatred of 5an#ers and fear of a general 5an#ing colla4se at the ti/e7
I referred /y honest o4inion to 1r7 Si/on at the Uni6ersity of %ia/i- 5ecause I #no
that he- due to his 5asic su44ort of a de/ocratic and free 4ress- does not fully a44reciate
/y little crusade against %ia/i8s esta5lished 4ress7 In any e6ent he ould gi6e a
nes4a4er considera5le leeay to /a#e /ista#es due to stu4idity " though he ould
dra the line at 4er4etuating falsehood7 He res4onded 6ia e/ail on %ay .?- .,1, as
follos$
3Unfortunately- it a44ears that StanfordDs trust re4resentati6e office as used to facilitate
the sale of a huge 6olu/e of Stanford International 0an# ;1s to foreign in6estors7
Although the central issue is the fraudulent nature of the underlying security E and- fro/
a 4u5lic 4olicy 4ers4ecti6e- the failure of federal and state SE;URITIES regulators to
co//ence /ore ti/ely enforce/ent action- certainly as e6ents unfolded the Stanford
(iduciary In6estor Ser6ices office in %ia/i did hel4 to e!acer5ate StanfordDs PonBi
sche/e: and the international trust co/4any re4resentati6e office as sanctioned 5y the
%e/orandu/ of Agree/ent Chich I signed97 So- 4ersonally- I do not fault The %ia/i
Herald for raising 4u5lic aareness a5out the Stanford (iduciary In6estor Ser6ices office
or Fdigging for dirtG ith regard to the %e/orandu/ of Agree/ent7 A lot of 4eo4le lost
a lot of /oney- at least in 4art 5ecause of 5usiness conducted 5y Stanford (iduciary
In6estor Ser6ices in %ia/i7 If in fact Stanford (iduciary In6estor Ser6ices as Cin your
ords9 a 8red herring8 it as certainly a 5ig one C4erha4s H1 5illion or /ore97 Although
Allen Stanford could ha6e- ould ha6e- and did in fact /ainly 4er4etuate the Stanford
International 0an# ;1 PonBi sche/e 5y and through Stanford @rou4 ;o/4any and
StanfordDs legion of registered in6est/ent ad6isors- it see/s o56ious that Stanford also
used the 4restige of a %ia/i office of the Antigua"5ased trust co/4any- Stanford Trust
;o/4any )i/ited- to further the /assi6e financial fraud7
3Nonetheless- as you ha6e concluded- 5ased on your on inde4endent research and
i/4artial consideration of the attendant facts and go6erning la- so/e 4re/ises of The
%ia/i Herald series are 4atently incorrect7 In 1IIJ there as no la in (lorida
4rohi5iting the esta5lish/ent of an international trust co/4any re4resentati6e office7 This
is confir/ed 5y the House of Re4resentati6es and Senate 5ill analyses of legislation
4assed earlier this year to su5ject international trust co/4any re4resentati6e offices in
(lorida for the first ti/e to state regulation7 )i#eise- it is erroneous for The %ia/i
Herald to re4eatedly state that I signed the %e/orandu/ of Agree/ent o6er the
o5jections of Richard 1onelan- the de4art/entDs chief 5an#ing counsel7 Indeed- after a
diligent search of its records the &ffice of (inancial Regulation has recently affir/ed that
%r7 1onelan ne6er issued a legal /e/orandu/ in o44osition to the %e/orandu/ of
Agree/ent7 )i#eise- records 4roduced 5y the &ffice of (inancial Regulation 4ursuant to
co/4rehensi6e 4u5lic records reKuests re6eal no docu/ent hatsoe6er 5y attorney
1onelan ritten to /e Cas 0an#ing 1i6ision 1irector9 or /y su4er6isor Cthe 1e4uty
;o/4troller9- or 1onelanDs su4er6isor Cthe 1e4art/ent of 0an#ing and (inance @eneral
;ounsel9- or the 1e4art/ent head Cthe state ;o/4troller9 in o44osition to the
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MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS
%e/orandu/ of Agree/ent7 The si/4le truth of the /atter is that attorney 1onelan
negotiated the %e/orandu/ of Agree/ent ith o44osing counsel o6er a 4eriod of
ee#s- and then the agree/ent as 4resented to /e for signature7 Although I as not
co/4elled to sign it- I as ne6er 4resented ith any su5stanti6e legal argu/ent hy the
%e/orandu/ of Agree/ent should not 5e signed7
3Ho4efully- the truth ill out73
The %ia/i Herald8s res4onse to reKuests for the su5stantiation of its allegations and to
address our findings is silence7 There has 5een no a4ology and retraction7 Anoing they
ha6e concocted and disse/inated falsehoods- one /ight e!4ect an a4ology and retraction-
5ut here e ha6e aard"inning journalists ho can do no rong- and are a44arently
eKui44ed ith casuistic ethics to s/ooth o6er hy4ocrisy ith silence7 (urther/ore- here
e ha6e a atchdog 5red in arrogance7 Its 5ar# is all too late- and it illingly ta#es the
credit for hat already has 5een done e6en hen that a/ounts to nothing7 Ne6ertheless-
the 5ul# of its readers are decei6ed 5y its 4restige " the ety/ology of 84restige8 a44ertains
to the e!tinction of judg/ent and o5scuration of truth- as in illusion- fascination- and
enchant/ent7 *hat does the %ia/i Herald care a5out any accusations of its on
rongdoing hen it has- as %ia/i8s only daily nes4a4er- a /ono4oly on the 4rinted
nes- a/4le finances- and a 5an# of layers 4re4ared to 4ersuade judges that their
forefathers intended to constitute the legality of falsehoodL
In the ne!t article in this series- I shall address the %ia/i Herald8s /isleading assertions
a5out the 5an# di6ision8s e!a/inations of Stanford TrustDs international trust co/4any
re4resentati6e office- and sho that the histle5loer they culti6ated as no
histle5loer at all- that the red flags the 4a4er su44osedly identified ere not red flags7
I shall sho that- in fact- the 5an# e!a/iners as ell as the editors and re4orters /issed
an o56ious indicator that Stanford 4ersonnel ere engaged in an acti6ity that as
4rohi5ited of a trust re4resentati6e office- although it /ight ha6e 5een legal if a different
hat as donned: in any case it as an acti6ity hich /ight ha6e arranted a further
in6estigation 5y the a44ro4riate authorities to deter/ine its legality7 That is not to say
that the State of (lorida in any ay FaidedG Allen Stanford in his FsindleG E as the
%ia/i Herald sha/efully screa/ed in one of its headlines7
"M'M"
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