Senators aim to put squeeze on Antigua over Stanford assets

Eight U.S. senators want Congress to oppose International Money Fund and World Bank loans to the government of Antigua and Barbuda until that government compensates victims of Stanford Financial Group. Stanford International Bank was located in Antigua. The eight lawmakers, including Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Richard Shelby, R-Ala., introduced the so-called sense-of-the-Senate resolution Monday. The resolution would be non-binding. Allen Stanford, who has been charged with perpetrating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme through Stanford Financial's bank in Antigua, had close ties to the government on the island nation. Stanford is alleged to have loaned Antigua $85 million, according to a release issued by the senators. The loan “presumably came from Stanford investor funds,” the release said. The government of Antigua and Barbuda is refusing to cooperate with the U.S. receiver in charge of reclaiming the assets of Stanford Financial Group, they said. The receiver is charged with distributing any reclaimed funds to victims of the fraud. “Despite this lack of cooperation in providing recourse to investors in Stanford Financial Group, the government of Antigua and Barbuda is currently seeking loans from the IMF and World Bank, both of which receive significant funding from the United States government,” the release said. “It is absurd that the government of Antigua and Barbuda is standing in the way of helping victims, while also holding out its hand for funding,” Mr. Shelby said in the release. The resolution was introduced by Mr. Shelby, as well as Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, John Cornyn of Texas and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat. World Bank spokesman Stevan Jackson said that the World Bank does not have any loans to the country. "We don’t have an active portfolio with Antigua and Barbuda. There are no loans to cancel," he said. While the IMF has "had discussions with Antigua because they're in trouble, we have no financing arrangements, nor do they have any outstanding debts to us," said IMF spokesman William Murray.