SEC lifts suspension for Dallas attorney accused of helping Stanford’s $7B fraud avoid detection

The Dallas lawyer accused by the U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general of single-handedly using his position at the Securities and Exchange Commission to let R. Allen Stanford get away with defrauding investors of $7 billion is free to practice law again before the SEC.

Spencer Barasch worked 17 years for the SEC, including seven years as its chief of enforcement at the division office located in Fort Worth. After he resigned in 2005, he began representing Stanford before the SEC.

The inspector general’s report concluded that over the years as enforcement chief he had repeatedly denied federal investigators’ pleas to investigate suspicious aspects of Stanford’s offshore investment accounts, which later were determined to have been frauds.

Barasch denied wrongdoing at the time. He paid $50,000 to the Department of Justice to settle civil claims alleging impropriety.

More at http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/sec-lifts-suspension-for-dallas-attorney-accused-of-helping-stanfords-7-billion-fraud-avoid-detection.html/ .

[font color=green]A slap on the wrist and life goes on.[/font]