Stanford and Madoff have more in common than you think

“Sir” R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire recently charged with fraud by the SEC, has more in common with Bernie Madoff than you think. Sure, they’re both under SEC fraud investigations, but what you probably don’t know is that both men liked to invest in an alternative asset class of sorts - Politicians.

The now famous ponzi-king Bernard Madoff amassed a fortune while running his investment scam and he enjoyed playing politics with some of the money. He and his wife, Ruth, have given $238,200 to federal candidates. His company, Madoff Securities gave about $400,000 in federal campaign contributions. Bernie’s favorite congress people, judging by contributions, included Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (D), and NY Senator Chuck Schumer (D).

Sir R. Allen Stanford (Yes, he actually was knighted) was recently charged by the SEC with fraud and multiple violations of U.S. securities laws for alleged “massive ongoing fraud” involving $8 billion in certificates of deposits. Mr. Stanton is a billionaire who, like Mr. Madoff, made investments in politicians.

The Stanford Financial Group has given $2.4 million to candidates in both parties since 2000. Stanford and his wife Susan have coughed up almost another million dollars of their own money, giving 2/3 of the money to democrats. Stanford’s company spent another $5 million lobbying congress since 1999. The image below graphs the lobbying money spent over the years, notice the bulk of the money was spent last year in 2008 (Source: OpenSecrets.org).