Former Stanford Exec Gets Five Years for Fraud

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

HOUSTON, Texas – Former Stanford executive James M. Davis was sentenced today to five years in federal prison according to the Houston Chronicle.

Davis, 64, was chief financial officer for Stanford Financial Group Co. when the international business collapsed in early 2009 under the weight of a federal investigation.

A grand jury in Houston, where CEO R. Allen Stanford build his empire, indicted Stanford, Davis and four others associated with a $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme on investors.

Davis pleaded guilty in September 2009 and was a key government witness against Stanford, who was found guilty and sentenced to 110 years in prison.

During his final years with Stanford, Davis and his family lived in Union County west of Booneville. He frequently worked out of offices in Tupelo and Memphis.

Mississippians were among nearly 20,000 certificate of deposit buyers worldwide who lost their life savings and retirement funds with the Stanford collapse.

Recently, a court-appointed receiver reported they will initially recover about 1 cent on the dollars of their losses.

The U.S. Supreme Court also recently agreed to hear a lawsuit against several law firms investors claim obstructed a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of Stanford.

On the stand against Stanford, Davis said he hoped for leniency in the face of a possible 30-year sentence.

Last week, his lawyer reminded U.S. District Judge David Hittner, who sentenced Davis, that his client’s extensive cooperation was key to the government’s convictions.