U.S. firm accused of $8 billion fraud

Per The New York Times, Texas billionaire Robert Allen Stanford, the head of Stanford Financial Group, has been accused by the Security and Exchange Commission of fraudulently selling about $8 billion of certificates of deposit held by the firm's Antigua bank. Read the SEC's official press release here.

In the wake of the Bernard Madoff scandal, some Twitter users are amazed by corporate greed:

@bradatwater (Southern California, USA): Wonders [what ] is up with billionaires these days...Robert Allen Stanford investigated for a "massive ongoing fraud" http://www.mahalo.com/Robert_Allen_Stanford

@eluriravi (California, USA): Texan - Robert Stanford is charged by SEC for alleged $9billion investment & sales fraud..thts huge money!!!

@MadOFf_WallSt: Another Fraud - Robert Allen Stanford http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/17/news/companies/investment_scheme_ac...

@rcalmon (New York, USA): SEC seeking fraud charges against Robert Stanford Group.. [it] is going to hit the fan $$

U.S. firm accused of $8 billion fraud