LEGISLATIVE ALERT 11/12

LEGISLATION TO BE INTRODUCED IN HOUSE, HEARINGS SET  BILL ALSO BEING PREPARED IN SENATE!

    * Garrett & Maloney to introduce legislation in House. Senator Vitter current lead sponsor in Senate
    * House hearings set for 11/21
    * Selective grassroots to commence
    * 5th Anniversary media needs victims willing to be interviewed by media

Dear NIAP Member & Madoff Investor,

 Greetings.  I am excited to announce that SIPC legislation is to be introduced later this week or early next followed by Congressional hearings on Thursday, Nov 21. The legislation is to be jointly introduced by Congressman Garrett (NJ) and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY).  Similar legislation is expected to be introduced shortly in the Senate as well, consistent with the strategy laid out by Congressman Garrett in the last Congress.

The intention is to have the legislation introduced by approximately 15 co-sponsors, and followed by an extensive outreach effort via Garrett’s and Maloney’s offices, our lobby team and our own grassroots efforts to ramp up sponsorship numbers.

 The specific bill language is still going through final stages, and a bill number and title will be finalized shortly. We will make the bill public as soon as we receive the final version.  As you probably know, it prevents clawback of the innocent, insures SIPC payments to $500,000 based on account statements, and gives the SEC authority over SIPC.

 After hearings, the bill will be moved to a mark-up session in the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, voted on and moved to the Financial Services Committee.

  Next Steps on Grassroots. We will want to focus our House grassroots efforts on key Financial Services Committee members, as well as other influential House members, particularly those in districts or states with sizeable Madoff and Stanford victim constituents.  Our Senate strategy will focus on Senate members on the Senate Banking Committee and other key Senate members.

  The first wave of Grassroots letters and communications however will go out to those who are sponsoring the legislation at introduction, thanking them for their support and encouraging their reaching out to their colleagues to do the same.

 Stay Tuned!  In the coming days we will be providing more detailed information, as well as laying out the details for the grassroots outreach.  We will also undertake a rapid fundraising campaign to assist costs of Congressional hearings and grassroots support.

  We look forward to working with all previous and current leaders in this effort as well.

  Game on!
  Most sincerely,
 Ron Stein, CFP
 President, NIAP

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Victims Needed for Media interviews & Congressional testimony

Volunteers and Funds Needed. Please assist us in whatever way you can!

Email us at: djmionis@investoraction.org
              rstein@investoraction.org

Call us at: 800-323-9250

www.investoraction.org
www.fixsipcnow.com

For a full and open debate on the Stanford Receivership visit the Stanford International Victims Group - SIVG official forum http://sivg.org/forum/

Cassidy, Deutch Introduce Improving SIPC Act of 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Congressman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) re-introduced the Improving Security for Investors and Providing Closure Act, or Improving SIPC Act of 2013.  The legislation would provide victims of Ponzi schemes a quicker path to financial restitution, including those harmed by R. Allen Stanford and the Stanford Financial Group.

“It has been four years since the Stanford Financial Group was placed in receivership and its victims learned their savings were gone,” said Congressman Bill Cassidy.  “Yet there are still victims who have not been given financial restitution.  These are working men and women who cannot wait for the conclusion of a long, drawn-out legal process.  This bill allows them to quickly recoup some of their losses.  This is a common-sense plan which should be enacted.”

“Every victim of the despicable Ponzi scheme orchestrated by the Stanford Financial Group of course has the right to pursue any and all litigation in this case,” said Congressman Ted Deutch. “Yet those who cannot afford to continue this lengthy legal battle or simply want to move on with their lives deserve the opportunity to recoup some of their losses. This is a commonsense, bipartisan bill and I look forward to working with Congressman Cassidy to advance it in the 113th Congress.”

This legislation creates an avenue for SIPC to offer individual Stanford victims a one-time payment of up to $500,000.00, to at least partially recoup them of their losses. Stanford victims who accept the offer would consequently exclude themselves from any further claims against the SIPC fund.  Stanford victims who wish to continue their lawsuits against SIPC can bypass this option and continue those suits.  In summary, this legislation allows both parties to settle on existing claims for a negotiated amount, as both SIPC and countless victims reportedly hoped to do as early as 2011.

Additionally, since all settlements for Stanford victims would come from the SIPC fund, no taxpayer money will be required to fund this legislation and no increase to the national debt will occur if enacted.

Read more: http://sivg.org/article/2013_Cassidy_Deutch_Improving_SIPC.html

For a full and open debate on the Stanford Receivership visit the Stanford International Victims Group - SIVG official forum http://sivg.org/forum/

The District Court Rules in Favor of the Receiver in His Claim to Recover Net Winnings Paid to Stanford "Net Winner" Investors

January 23, 2013
By U.S. Receiver (Ralph Janvey)

On January 23, 2013, the District Court entered a summary judgment order in favor of the Receiver finding that the Receiver is entitled to recover from Stanford investors any funds they were paid in excess of the principal they deposited in the Stanford fraud scheme. The Court ruled that the net winner investors' contracts with Stanford are void and unenforceable and that the investors did not provide value for amounts they received from Stanford in excess of the amounts they deposited. As a result, the Court held that that allowing the net winner investors "to keep their fraudulent above-market returns in addition to their principal would simply further victimize the true Stanford victims, whose money paid the fraudulent interest." Although the District Court's order is not a final judgment, the District Court certified the order for appeal, which means that it will likely be appealed in the near future to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The Receiver is pleased with the Court's ruling today that those investors who profited from the Stanford ponzi scheme do not have the right to retain those profits. This decision represents an important milestone in the very long and difficult process of unwinding the massive Stanford ponzi scheme. In his ruling, Judge Godbey agreed with the Receiver's position that the fictitious interest payments that Stanford made to investors on their Stanford International Bank certificates of deposit simply represented money taken from one set of investors and paid to another; it was just part of Stanford's efforts that kept the ponzi scheme going for well over a decade.

Based on his investigation, the Receiver identified over $220 million in net winnings or fictitious interest that was paid to over 800 investors. The Receiver intends to use this ruling to pursue recovery of these funds for the benefit of the thousands of investors who sustained significant losses on their Stanford CDs. Once recovered, these funds can be distributed to the victims of the Stanford fraud, which would be in addition to the $55 million that the Receiver has already proposed for distribution.

The Receiver is continuing to pursue recovery through litigation of other funds that can be distributed to victims, and he continues to work cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Antiguan-appointed Liquidators to reach a final agreement to make available for distribution approximately $300 million in funds and assets currently frozen in foreign countries.

Read more: http://sivg.org/article/2013_Claim_Net_Winnings_Investors.html

For a full and open debate on the Stanford Receivership visit the SIVG official forum http://sivg.org/forum/