COALICION VICTIMAS DE STANFORD AMERICA LATINA (COViSAL)
An Open
Letter to the Joint Liquidators of SIBL
August
13, 2012
Marcus Wide and Hugh Dickson
Joint Liquidators
Stanford International Bank Ltd.
Dear Mr. Wide and Mr. Dickson:
COViSAL's members are very disappointed that you
chose to ignore our plea not to appeal Judge Godbey’s decision.
We also find inexcusable the fact that the order of
your appointment as new Joint Liquidators by the Court in Antigua, dated May
12, 2011, did not mention the Agreement of Cooperation, which should have been
signed by the previous Joint Liquidators and the U.S. Receiver in the second
trimester of 2010. The purpose of the agreement was to make the recovery of our
assets more expeditious and less costly.
It seems that our never-ending saga is being
prolonged by design, to generate fees and expenses and to waste
the remnants of our stolen savings in useless and unnecessary legal fights. You
have already spent millions of dollars of our patrimony with your continued
litigation against the U.S. Receiver and the U.S. Department of Justice. Now, you're
confirming what Judge Godbey described in his Court Order of July 31, 2012
about your history of repeated interference with the U.S. Receiver. "… early in the
action, without notice to the Receiver or the Canadian court, the Former Joint
Liquidators entered one of the Stanford Entities in Canada and wiped its
computer systems clean of information… the current Joint Liquidators
have attempted numerous times to unseat the Receiver from his role as the
recognized foreign representative in Canada."
The Judge continues, "Further, the Joint
Liquidators have actively objected to criminal seizure proceedings by the U.S.
Department of Justice in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, and have
taken affirmative steps to block the repatriation of Estate assets generally in
the United Kingdom and Canada… the Joint Liquidators have proven to be
extremely litigious and calculating in this Court, filing multiple notices of
objection to the Receiver's requests in this and other Stanford [multi-district
litigation] suits, and filing motions to pursue claims the Receiver was already
pursuing. The Joint Liquidators have admitted that they seek funds first and
foremost to fund their current operations, which include challenging the
Receiver's authority worldwide, not to distribute to investor-victims and
creditors." Judge Godbey said, this repeated interference with Janvey has
"been the norm" and is "particularly worrying."
It is unacceptable that the Courts in Antigua and
the United States have allowed you and the Receiver, who were named to prevent
the squandering of the creditors' patrimony, to continue fighting for the
assets - duplicating costs and efforts, and hindering the possibilities of a
pro rata distribution of the victims’ patrimony.
Three and a half years have passed since our
savings were stolen, and there is no end to the abuse. We ask that you focus
your efforts on cooperatively and honestly coordinate the recovery of our
stolen assets with the US Receiver, the Department of Justice, the SEC, and the
Official Stanford Investors Committee. This cooperation would oblige the parties
to share records and documents indispensable to successfully achieving third
party lawsuits, it would compel you to implement only one “Process of Claims
Certification,” and it would oblige you to elaborate joint reports to give the
judicial process the transparency it lacks.
It is undeniable that the Stanford Case has shown a
lack of ethics and morality. We are concerned that you, and the Receiver
continue to be a part of the problem and not a part of the solution. Why
prolong the agony of the victims?
You have a fiduciary duty to the investors/victims
and creditors, and your decisions and actions must be carried out in
consideration of the best interests of all of us, the Stanford’s victims.
There must be accountability for the money spent in pointless litigation, and
unnecessary expenditures. We will seek redress for the economic loss and damage
from acts and omissions against our interests and rights.
Once again, COViSAL demands that you comply with
Judge David Godbey’s Court Order. Arrogance must be abandoned in order to
establish a Cooperation Agreement with the U.S. Receiver without any further
delay - for the benefit of all Stanford’s victims.
The rights of the victims should prevail over the
judicial manipulations, and conscience must be the instrument to impart
justice. May God bless the thousands of innocent families - victims of a fraud
that still continues.
Jaime R. Escalona
On behalf of COViSAL