In 2009, Allen Stanford was one of the world's most influential bankers. The Texan's fortune was estimated to be around 2.2 billion dollars. He was a philanthropist, a newspaper publisher, and a renowned sportsman. Nothing could have led anyone to imagine that this affable man was at the time suspected of having pulled together a Ponzi scheme: a massive 8 billion dollar scam, the second biggest fraud in history. You would have imagined that the man at the head of Stanford International, a bank that managed up to 10 billion dollars and over 31,000 clients around the world, had trained as a banker. Well, that wasn’t Allen Stanford's case. Very early on, this pure Texan, with his impressive physique, showed that he was an entrepreneur through and through. He started off with nothing, no diploma, or initial investment – and first made his fortune by setting up a chain of bodybuilding gyms.

But in 2009, with the financial crisis, everything fell apart. Everyone wanted to get their cash back and after a twentyyear scam, Allen Stanford could no longer maintain the illusion. His bank was nothing but a hollow shell and the money had disappeared. After a crosscountry manhunt, he was finally arrested in bed with one of his many mistresses. In 2012, the extravagant Allen Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison.

Documentary: White Collar Gangsters – Allen Stanford Billionaire Pirate of the Caribbean (2016)
Direction: Caroline Amiard
Production: Pallas Télévision


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