A federal judge Thursday approved a request that could release more than $4 billion in previously frozen funds to investors in the troubled companies owned by Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford.
During Thursday’s 10-minute hearing, U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey granted a motion from the court-appointed receiver to release accounts greater than $250,000 held by two brokerage firms and not containing proceeds from the certificates of deposit that are at the heart of a civil suit filed against Stanford by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann estimates Thursday’s order will unfreeze approximately $130 million in Mississippi assets.
As many as 160 to 170 Mississippi accounts worth an estimated $40 million could remain frozen. Nearly 150 of those may include the high yield certificate of deposits more commonly referred to as toxic CDs. Other accounts either belong to employees or are believed to be tied to the suspected fraud.
