Toronto Dominion and Four Other Banks that Provided Services to Stanford Ponzi Scheme Lose Final Bid to Avoid Trial
In 2009, a group of Stanford International Bank investors filed suit in Houston against five banks—The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Société Générale Private Banking (Suisse) S.A., Trustmark National Bank, HSBC Bank plc, and Independent Bank f/k/a Bank of Houston—that provided services to Stanford that aided and facilitated the Ponzi scheme. Shortly thereafter, the case was transferred to Dallas to be coordinated with the rest of the Stanford Financial Group Receivership litigation. Since that time, the Official Stanford Investors Committee joined the lawsuit, and the Committee has been pursuing claims against the banks in cooperation with our client Ralph Janvey, the Receiver for Stanford. In total, the recovery sought from the defendants in the case exceeds $4 billion.
Following discovery, the banks all filed motions for summary judgment, arguing that the Committee’s claims were unsupported by substantial evidence or legal authority. On January 20, Judge David Godbey of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas denied the banks’ motions, thus clearing the way for the case to proceed to trial. Because the pretrial aspects of the case are largely complete, Judge Godbey also remanded the case to the federal court in Houston for trial.
Kevin Sadler, the Receiver’s lead counsel, commented on the Court’s ruling: “The Receiver is very pleased that the case against the Banks who facilitated Stanford’s massive Ponzi scheme will be presented to a jury in Houston Texas, the former headquarters of Stanford’s Ponzi scheme. The Receiver and the Official Stanford Investors Committee have worked both tirelessly and cooperatively to prosecute this case to hold the Banks accountable for the billions in losses the Stanford victims have suffered. We look forward to presenting our case in Court.”
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