Stanford aide pleads not guilty
A former top aide to Texas financier Allen Stanford pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of obstructing an SEC investigation of an alleged $8.5 billion fraud.
Laura Pendergest-Holt, 35, the ex-chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group, was indicted Tuesday on obstruction and conspiracy charges in what the government alleges is a massive fraud that snared investors throughout the Caribbean, the United States and Latin America.
"Not guilty," said Pendergest-Holt, who smiled occasionally at the brief hearing Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy in Houston.
She is the first person to be indicted on charges related to a scheme the federal government said involves high-yield certificates of deposit issued by Stanford International Bank Ltd. in Antigua.
Stanford and James Davis, the firm’s former chief financial officer, and Pendergest-Holt all face civil charges for what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has labeled a Ponzi scheme, where early investors are paid money from later investors.
During the hearing, Pendergest-Holt’s lawyers asked the judge to have their client’s ankle monitor removed and said she and her husband plan to move to North Carolina from her current home in Baldwyn, Miss quick guaranteed personal loans.
Pendergest-Holt, who appeared in court dressed in white slacks and a short-sleeved black jacket, will remain free on a $300,000 bond posted when she was arrested in February on an obstruction charge.
"I’m looking forward to trying this case as soon as possible," said Dan Cogdell, a Houston lawyer for Pendergest-Holt who said he was also encouraged his client will be tried separately from Stanford and Davis.
Allen Stanford and Davis do not face criminal charges. Stanford has denied any wrongdoing and Davis is cooperating with the government.
Pendergest-Holt, is accused of concealing her knowledge of assets held by the offshore bank and lying to SEC lawyers investigating the alleged fraud, according to the indictment.
She and other Stanford executives also discussed ways to conceal the true financial conditions of the offshore bank from the SEC, according to court documents.
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