Leroy King, the former financial regulator in Antigua, remains a free man, notwithstanding the loss, months ago, of his last possible appeal of the extradition order, in a case which has been pending for a decade, and which has given Antigua a permanent black eye in the international community. King, who took bribes from convicted Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford to deceive American regulators and law enforcement agencies, has been ordered extradited a number of times, only for Antigua's courts to allow repeated bogus appeals and petitions, judicial reassignments, and outright dilatory tactics to delay his extradition indefinitely.
Many Antiguans believe that King, if facing a long prison term in the United States for his crimes, would implicate both the present, as well as the former, prime minister of Antigua in corrupt activities involving Stanford, and for that reason, senior government officials have ordered the courts to do whatever it takes to deter his extradition to the State of Texas, where he remains the sole fugitive from justice in the Stanford International Bank Ponzi scheme.
Now with the extradition case against the billionaire Indian fraudster, Mehul Choksi appearing to go the same way, Antigua's image as a country that ignores the Rule of Law when senior officials so order it, will only be reinforced, and Country Risk for foreign investors will continue to remain elevated .
Many Antiguans believe that King, if facing a long prison term in the United States for his crimes, would implicate both the present, as well as the former, prime minister of Antigua in corrupt activities involving Stanford, and for that reason, senior government officials have ordered the courts to do whatever it takes to deter his extradition to the State of Texas, where he remains the sole fugitive from justice in the Stanford International Bank Ponzi scheme.
Now with the extradition case against the billionaire Indian fraudster, Mehul Choksi appearing to go the same way, Antigua's image as a country that ignores the Rule of Law when senior officials so order it, will only be reinforced, and Country Risk for foreign investors will continue to remain elevated .
Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant
Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst
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