Venezuela’s banking regulator disclosed today that about $2.5 billion of the $8 billion held in Stanford International Bank is owed to Venezuelan investors. The Telegraph reports that the bank run by Texan billionaire Allen Stanford was popular among Venezuela’s middle and upper class.
The Telegraph reports that “wealthy Venezuelans often prefer to invest overseas because of fears of little security for investors, due to the overtly socialist nature of the [Hugo] Chavez government and the country’s previous banking crises.” Hundreds of SIB clients reportedly queued outside the local offices of SIB in Caracas, the nation’s capital, on Wednesday in a vain attempt to withdraw funds. All accounts, however, have been frozen.
