Accused fraudster gave big to Dems

The Texas financier accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday of “massive ongoing fraud” was a generous political donor who gave more heavily to Democrats.

Since 2000, R. Allen Stanford, the chief of the Stanford Financial Group in Houston, his wife and company gave $2.2 million in political contributions – $1.7 million to Democratic candidates and committees – according to Federal Election Commission records.


The most recent donation on record was $300,000 from Stanford Financial Group to the Democratic Governors Association, a so-called 527 group not subject to campaign contribution limits.

Other big beneficiaries included the Democrats’ congressional campaign committees, which received $1.2 million over the years, and their Republican counterparts, which got $322,000, including a $28,500 personal donation last year to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Stanford and his companies gave $128,500 to the Republican National Committee, plus $2,000 to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), $4,000 to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), $4,000 to Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-Texas), $4,000 to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and $4,800 to the committees of Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), among other contributions.

The SEC accused Stanford and two associates of misrepresenting the safety and liquidity of more than $8 billion worth of certificates of deposit held in Antigua.

Cornyn also reported that Stanford Financial Group paid $7,441.00 in travel, lodging and meal expenses to fly him and his wife to Antigua in November, 2004.

The purpose of the trip was a “financial services industry fact-finding mission hosted by [a] constituent company with substantial operations on site,” according to a travel report that Cornyn filed with the secretary of the Senate.

Stanford, who is a dual United States-Antigua citizen, was described by a Cornyn aide as “nothing more than a constituent.”

“No one is above the law, and prosecutors should follow the facts, wherever they may lead,” Cornyn said in a statement.