Billionaire Turns Fugitive

Allen Stanford has done a Judge Crater. Absconding with perhaps eight(8) billion dollars or as much as fifty(50) billion dollars of his clients' money, the tall Texan seems to have vanished. Perhaps, a new underground railroad has been constructed and Stanford is in hiding in Madoff's china press. Authorities are learning new methods of dealing with these wealthy fraudsters. They are buying Hermes handcuffs and outfitting cell beds with hand-loomed 800-thread count Egyptian long-staple cotton sheets. Whatever the actual figure of the fund diversion, the fact that it can occur can only further erode already damaged confidence with no evidence of either fiduciary responsibility or enforcement of existing regulation. Eight billion or fifty-that must be one hell of a carpetbag.