Stanford CFO Pleads Not Guilty in $7 Billion Fraud
Court Alerts
James M. Davis, accused of helping financier R. Allen Stanford swindle investors in a $7 billion fraud, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in a U.S. court and was released on bail.
Davis, 60, who was chief financial officer at Stanford Group Co., one of the companies implicated in the alleged plot, will change his plea to guilty at a hearing before U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston within the next two weeks, his lawyer said.
“We don’t have an agreed sentence,” David Finn, Davis’s attorney, said after today’s arraignment. “It’s going to be completely the judge’s call.”
Davis, who prosecutors said faces as many as 30 years in prison, was released by U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley on $500,000 bond with a $5,000 cash deposit, with his in-laws and son as co-signers. Finn entered today’s plea on Davis’s behalf, repeating his intention to change the plea after the government has time to notify victims, as required by federal law.
Stanford and four other people were indicted by a Houston federal grand jury for their roles in an alleged scheme that included the sales of certificates of deposit through Antigua- based Stanford International Bank Ltd. Stanford has denied all charges of wrongdoing.
Davis, the second-highest ranking executive in the Stanford Financial Group of Companies, was charged separately from the other defendants and waived indictment. During most of today’s proceeding, Davis rocked back and forth on his heels with his hands clasped before him, appearing somber in a black business suit. He left the courthouse holding hands with his wife, Lori, without speaking to reporters.
Related listings
-
Woman sues, says NY school used her as 'plaything'
Court Alerts 07/10/2009A fundraiser at an upstate university has sued two senior athletic department officials, accusing them of using her as a "plaything" and trying to make her ply big donors with her sexuality.The plaintiff, Elizabeth Williams, is represented by the law...
-
NASCAR asks appeals court to reverse ruling
Court Alerts 07/09/2009NASCAR has asked an appeals court to overturn the injunction that lifted Jeremy Mayfield's indefinite suspension for a failing a random drug test.NASCAR made its request Wednesday to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the filing, NASCAR argues...
-
Six charged in $140 million NY brokerage fraud
Court Alerts 07/08/2009Six employees of Wall Street retail brokerage Sky Capital Holdings Ltd surrendered to the FBI on Wednesday on charges of a $140 million investment fraud and stock manipulation in the United States and Britain, officials said.The firm's founder, Presi...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.