Stanford investors sue SEC, receiver over assets

A view of the outside of a Stanford Bank branch in Caracas February 17, 2009.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Clients of Stanford Group Co sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Marshals Service and Stanford's court-appointed receiver on Wednesday, arguing the government had no right to freeze their assets.

Allen Stanford, the firm's billionaire chairman, two top aides and three of his companies are accused by the SEC of a long-running Ponzi scheme involving $8 billion in high-yield certificates of deposit.

Ralph Janvey, a court-appointed lawyer overseeing the company is enforcing a court order from February 16 freezing the firm's and investors' accounts in a bid to preserve assets for investors and creditors.

The SEC and Janvey "have not come forward with any evidence that the owners of the seized accounts did anything wrong, yet defendants continue to exercise control over plaintiffs' property in a reckless and negligent manner," said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Houston.

"We stand by the allegations of wrongdoing we presented to the court," said SEC spokesman John Nester. "The court's order authorized the receiver to obtain and marshal the assets of the defendants to protect investors."

The freezing of asset has enraged and frustrated investors, including some who say they can't pay medical bills or mortgages or buy groceries.

The lawsuit gave one example, Catherine Coulter, who runs a rescue organization for greyhounds in Houston and has no access to the donations in the group's Stanford account. She is now concerned about meeting payroll and feeding 50 dogs in her care, the lawsuit said.

Janvey said in federal court in Dallas on Monday he is working to unfreeze Stanford accounts of $100,000 or less.

The latest lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

An email query to the receiver's office was not immediately answered. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in Houston was not immediately available for comment.

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai in Washington; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Jeffrey Benkoe)