By Kenneth RijockMIAMI, USA — The former Antigua and Barbuda-based Ponzi king, R Allen Stanford, who is preparing to file a petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, may be wasting his time.

R. Allen Stanford

The high court recently refused to hear certiorari petitions filed on behalf of two of Stanford’s senior executives, Mark Kuhrt, and Gilbert Lopez, Jr. Both men had received 20-year sentences after being convicted on multiple counts of wire fraud, and wire fraud conspiracy, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed their convictions.

The Supreme Court apparently did not buy into the two defendants’ arguments to the effect that there was a conflict in the decisions of the various circuits regarding errors in jury instructions, and considered that any errors that occurred during their trial were harmless, given the evidence admitted.

Stanford, who reportedly is also seeking to have his conviction and sentence heard, pursuant to conflict certiorari, has an uphill battle even to get in the door. Only a small fraction of certiorari petitions are ever granted by the Supreme Court, and it is doubtful that he will be successful.

Furthermore, his post-trial filings have all been pro se, filed without the benefit of an attorney. As the saying goes, a person who represents himself has a fool for a client. Was he planning on arguing the case himself before the Supreme Court?

Kenneth Rijock is a banking lawyer turned-career money launderer (10 years), turned-compliance officer specialising in enhanced due diligence, and a financial crime consultant who publishes a Financial Crime Blog. The Laundry Man, his autobiography, was published in the UK on 5 July 2012.