Slide number 1
The 16-year-old SEC lawsuit was concluded in January 2025 when Chief District Judge David Godbey of Dallas issued a final judgment announcing hefty fines against the principal architects of the decades-long fraud.3
Funds Recovered
Recovering $2.7 Billion for 18,000 Victims in Stanford Ponzi Scheme
Funds Recovered
Recovering $2.7 Billion for 18,000 Victims in Stanford Ponzi Scheme
Key Contacts
How do you build a case strong enough to recoup $2.7 billion?
Two months after the arrest of Bernie Madoff, the SEC raided the offices of Stanford International Bank, which uncovered a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 18,000 investors.
A Receiver was appointed and represented by legal counsel. FTI Consulting was engaged as the Receiver’s primary consultant to support recovery efforts, including identifying and analyzing a complex network of assets, cash flows, personnel and underlying electronic data systems.
Our Impact
We helped the Receiver recoup a total of $2.7 billion to date, including a historic pretrial settlement of $1.6 billion by five banks that were sued for allegedly assisting Stanford in carrying out fraudulent activities. In 2024, the first $100 million settlement was distributed to victims.
By the Numbers
A Historic Recovery Operation
$2.7B
Recovered to Date
$2.7 billion recovered to date on behalf of more than 18,000 defrauded investors of Stanford International Bank.
18,000+
Investors Defrauded
More than 18,000 investors of Stanford International Bank were defrauded by the Ponzi scheme.
$1.6B
In Pretrial Settlements
Five financial institutions that were culpable in assisting Stanford in carrying out fraudulent activities settled pending litigation pretrial for a total of $1.6 billion, a historic settlement in Ponzi scheme recoveries.
In crisis and transformation,real-world experience delivers.
Our Role
Bringing Together Forensic, Technical and Financial Expertise
FTI Consulting consolidated all liquid cash assets under the receivership and investigated and identified all electronic data systems (more than 100 in total) to forensically extract information relevant to the case.
We prepared reports and analysis for the Receivership, law firms and various government entities including the DOJ, the SEC and the FBI that involved querying data across many systems and linking information from multiple sources.
Our teams scoured the company’s primary and ancillary internal accounting systems, treasury payment systems and the underlying financial system containing the alleged fraudulent investment tool that became the central focus of the investigation.
We employed a technology solution to support the identification of all company‐related bank accounts and other sources of company funds, the transition of asset ownership to Receivership and the valuation of these assets.
FTI Consulting provided technical and financial analysis related to the freeze and release of customer assets, asset recovery litigation and international litigation.
We identified all domestic brokerage accounts, secured them under a court order, then analyzed each account’s activity history to identify the net “winners” and “losers” and inform the distribution plan for recoveries.
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