Robert Allen Stanford, the CEO of the Stanford Financial Group who’s been accused by the SEC of perpetrating a massive, $7 billion Ponzi scheme, says he’s nothing like Bernard Madoff. In fact, he once threatened to punch ABC’s Charlie Gibson in the mouth for publicly making the connection. And yet the steps he’s taken in his post-bust life have followed Madoff’s lead. There’s the whole alleged Ponzi scheme, of course. And having watched Madoff’s highly publicized arrest, Stanford strategically turned himself in to the police in May even though nobody asked him to. He’s been publicly very gracious with federal officials, and tried to avoid any blame being spread to his colleagues (even though his CFO pleaded guilty today in order to secure a better deal for himself). And now, having seen the ever-so-faintly sympathetic press Madoff received this week when it was reported he may be dying of cancer, suddenly Stanford is in the news for being rushed to the hospital. Just before, you know, he goes to trial with the public defender he had to hire because the banks froze all his assets. Does Stanford think the Madoff school of public relations is the way to go? Here’s hoping he actually reads all of the recent coverage before he commits to that strategy.
