Stanford said to decay healthy-teeth group’s funds

A trustee of a charitable foundation that helps poor people in Central America and Mexico has filed a civil case against Texas billionaire financier R. Allen Stanford, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused of orchestrating an $8 billion fraud scheme. The suit, filed yesterday in Harris County Texas district court in Houston, alleges that Mr. Stanford, the Stanford Financial Group Co. of Houston and eight other Stanford companies and executives defrauded clients who invested in certificates of deposit that were misleadingly represented. The suit also accuses the defendants of violating the Texas Securities Act, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy and breach of conduct. Dr. Johan Dahler, a dentist, is a trustee of a private trust that donates its income to the Canon City, Colo.-based Foundation for the Development of Healthy Teeth in a Healthy Body. The trust has more than $700,000 invested in CDs with Stanford International Bank Ltd. of St. John’s, Antigua. According to the complaint, Stanford refused to return the funds even after they were told “that thousands of natives will not get medical and dental surgical help, nor will hundreds of orphanages be getting food for their daily lives if these funds are not received.” Dr. Dahler is represented by James A. Dunlap Jr. & Associates LLC and James M. Evangelista of Page Perry LLC, both of Atlanta, and the Law Offices of Patrick Zummo of Houston. The FBI served Mr. Stanford with the SEC civil lawsuit in Fredericksburg, Va., yesterday. His whereabouts were unknown until then. The Wall Street Journal reported today that federal prosecutors are investigating whether he was operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding investors around the world.