St. Johns Antigua- Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer says the 110-year jail sentence that was imposed on former investor Allen Stanford is small comfort for Antigua & Barbuda.
The prime minister commented on the matter yesterday while delivering the feature address at a ceremony to mark the official opening of the new Inland Revenue building in the Woods Centre.
He said the disgraced Texan’s legacy has hurt Antigua & Barbuda in ways that both predate and outlive Stanford’s spectacular downfall.
“While this may represent a semblance of closure for some of the investors who lost a combined sum of approximately US$7billion, it provides little relief for Antigua & Barbuda as we remain under constant scrutiny.”
Spencer noted that “our offshore financial services sector has declined significantly as a direct result of the Stanford debacle and it will likely take some years to recover.”
The prime minister said, “despite this fact and the events that have transpired since 2009, we still have our detractors who are full of praise for Mr Stanford and still view him as a saviour – if only they could take their beaks and heads out of the sand.”
Taking a swipe at the opposition Antigua Labour Party, Spencer said, “under the stewardship of our predecessors in office, Antigua & Barbuda was operated as a giant Ponzi scheme and we can appreciate, therefore, the unqualified affinity of the ALP to R Allen Stanford
In response to this article let me say the whole Stanford debacle is most unfortunate, not only did the investors loose out but person who would have been employed were put on the breadline. In my opinion i think his arrest was premature because i am of the opinion that there were pending investments such as the the 20/20 and Guiana island project that could potentially overtime see great benefits and the investors investments when matured would have gained. I understand Mr. Spencer’s stance as now we have to rebuild our image in the international community and part of that is to distance ourselves from fallen
Allen Stanford. I can’t help but think what if.
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Fair comment except for points #3 and #5. The law is the law whether you like it or not. King’s legal team are exercising their right to delay his extradition for as long as possible, that’s their lawful duty to their client. You know the game; try getting a US citizen extradited to a foreign country, it’s virtually impossible as the Europeans have found to their cost but when the boot is on the other foot it becomes a big issue, why? Point #5 is valid of course but taking your argument to its logical conclusion then GOAB should also ignore the ruling, agreed? Two wrongs don’t make a right but you can’t have it both ways, can you?
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If Mr Spencer wants foreign investment to return and to restore Antigua’s name in the International community then here are a few things he should consider doing as a matter of urgency.
1. Make Public the Report into the FSRC.
2. Instigate a full and transparent investigation into the actions of Errol Cort during his time as finance minister, and how it was possible for someone in his position to receive a monthly retainer 8 times his salary every month from the very man his government body the FSRC should have been monitoring.
3. Extradite Leroy King, the farcical excuses for delays has gone on long enough.
4. Stop building an airport terminal on land you do not own, or how about an idea completely alien to an Antigua government..PAY FOR IT!
5. Obey the court ruling on HMB and pay them the money owed for the land you have expropriated.
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Time for us to stop align ourselves with the USA. They destroy Stanford, Antigua’s economy and US depositors who dear to bank their money outside of the USA under the guise of a ponzi scheme.(research how a bank really operate).Knowledge is power!
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We should not forget that both parties benefited from Stanford’s money.We now have to work together to clear Antigua’s good name.
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Spencer seems to have forgotten that it is his government that gave Stanford his knighthood in 2006. In the end, both ALP and UPP entertained Stanford. Taking our ‘beaks and heads out of the sand’ still doesn’t change the fact that our island benefitted from this union at the time. We need to focus on improving our island’s image/reputation as a result.
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We black people will never learn. Tell Baldwin Spencer to familarised himself with FATCA(Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), then he will know why the US Government destroyed Stanford and send a very big message to other US business man who dear try to make us citizen bank their money outside of the USA. The united sates is so evil it will do anything to product itself. This is War.
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Baldwin should not have made this comment. If he was in power when Stanford was throwing money at everything and seemed legit, he would have joined up with Stanford himself. With the amount of money Stanford invested in Antigua, if Baldwin wouldn’t have joined with Stanford then he would have been holding Antigua back.
Now that he has been found guilty, supporting Stanford would be a bad move.
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