Stanford's Dad: 'I Hope He's Not a Crook'

“I can’t believe these allegations,” says James Stanford. The 81-year-old has recently been subpoenaed by the SEC about the actions of his now-infamous son, R. Allen Stanford, who’s accused of an $8 billion fraud scheme. Stanford sits on the Stanford Financial board but hasn’t been to a meeting in years. He hasn’t seen his son since October, but he got a call from him when news of the investigation broke, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Stanford describes Allen as an average, rambunctious boy. A sports lover, he tried to open a health club after college, but it failed. He moved on to selling real estate to overseas investors near Disney World, then came home to Texas to work with his father and eventually found Stanford Financial. “Allen is a smart guy,” James says. “I hope he’s not a crook. He wasn’t raised to be a crook.” (More Robert Allen Stanford stories.)