(Bloomberg News) Patrick Cruickshank is one of at least four former Stanford Group Co. financial advisors and executives who may be sued by U.S. securities regulators for fraud, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. and a lawyer for the brokerage's underwriter.
Cruickshank, who is now a registered financial advisor with IMS Securities in Austin, Texas, was told in May that the Securities and Exchange Commission "intends to recommend that the commission file an action" against him for alleged securities law violations at the financial services company founded by R. Allen Stanford, FINRA disciplinary records show.
"Mr. Cruickshank has done nothing wrong," his attorney, Brad Foster, said in an e-mail today. "Like his clients, Mr. Cruickshank was a victim of the Stanford fraud" who lost money he personally invested in Stanford CDs, Foster said.
Danny Bogar, former head of the Stanford Group broker-dealer unit, also has been notified that the SEC may sue him as part of its investigation, according to the Financial Times. In May, Lloyd's of London lawyer Neel Lane, who handles requests for directors' and officers' insurance coverage by former Stanford brokers and executives, told a Houston judge that four ex-executives had been notified by the SEC that they might be sued in connection with the Stanford probe.
Stanford, four former colleagues and three of his companies were accused by the SEC in February 2009 of running a "massive" Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of more than $7 billion through the sale of bogus certificates of deposit at Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.
Deny Wrongdoing
Stanford and three of the accused executives deny all wrongdoing and are fighting parallel criminal charges brought against them in June 2009. Stanford's former Chief Financial Officer James M. Davis pleaded guilty to the fraud scheme and is cooperating with the government.
The SEC has publicly stated that Stanford and his top officials "lied to financial advisers" like Cruickshank, Foster said.
Cruickshank "had absolutely no knowledge of the alleged Ponzi scheme," Foster said. "He is simply a financial adviser who happened to work for the wrong employer."
Bogar's attorney couldn't immediately be located.
The SEC case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stanford International Bank, 09cv298, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas). The criminal case against Stanford is U.S. v. Stanford, 09cf342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).