UNIVERSITE DES ANTILLES ET DE LA GUYANE ANNEE UNIVERSITAIRE

2008-2009
Faculté de Droit et d’Economie de Martinique 1ere année
de la Licence en Droit
Anglais : T .D. de Mme MONTANEDE
semestre 2

US CHASING STANDFORD FOR TAX BILL

The US government is chasing at least 226.6m (£161m) in taxes, penalties and interests it
says billionaire American financier Sir Allen Stanford owes.

The internal Revenue Service has filed a request with a federal judge in Dallas to pursue the
alleged bill, dating from 1999 – 2003. He is also ordered to file a 2007 tax return.
Sir Allen is being investigated for an alleged $8bn fraud – but he does not yet face any criminal
charges. The tax agency filed four tax demands against Sir Allen and his wife in 2007 and 2008.
But in August, the Standfords requested a hearing to contest how much it was said they owed.
Court documents have shown that Sir Allen – whose assets have been frozen – has refused to talk
to US regulators investigating the alleged fraud.
The civil case against Sir Allen, whose personal fortune was estimated at 2.2bn by Forbes magazine
– has been brought by US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says Sir Allen is guilty of fraud of “shocking
magnitude”.
They accuse him of orchestrating the fraud through his Stanford Financial Group, which SEC says
offered unrealistically high returns to investors. The SEC says he ran a Ponzi-style fraud scheme,
whereby investors were paid returns through money gained from newer investors, rather than
from any actual investment profit.
Sir Allen came to prominence last year when he sponsored a high –profile Twenty20 cricket
tournament, which culminated in a match between England and an all stars West Indies Team that
gave each winning player £1m.
His property in the Caribbean state of Antigua Barbuda, where many of his business
interests are based, were recently seized by the islands government.

The Chronicle, Friday March 20, 2009

Vocabulary

Write the French equivalents of the following expressions from the text

filed a request …………………………………………………………………………………………………

to pursue …………………………………………………………………………………………………

is being investigated…………………………………………………………………………………………………

criminal charges…………………………………………………………………………………………………

requested a hearing…………………………………………………………………………………………………

have been frozen…………………………………………………………………………………………………

the civil case against Sir Allen…………………………………………………………………………………………………

is guilty of fraud…………………………………………………………………………………………………
they accuse him of…………………………………………………………………………………………………

were recently seized…………………………………………………………………………………………………

COMPREHENSION

Read the article and answer the following questions.

(all of the answers are to be found in the article)

1 What is Mr Stanford’s nationality?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2 How much money does he owe the US government?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3 What is the name of the organisation responsible for collecting taxes in the USA?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4 Where does Mr Stanford live in the USA (state/town?)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5 Is Mr. Stanford the only person concerned by the tax demands?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6 Name the years concerned by these tax returns.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7 How many tax returns demands have been filed?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

8 Have they accepted without protesting?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

9 Where has happened to Mr Stanford’s assets?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

10 How rich is Mr Stanford?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

11 Who estimated his fortune?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

12 What does SEC mean?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

13 Give another name for SEC?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

14 What is he accused of?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

15 What is the name of his company?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

16 What is the Pronzi-style fraud scheme?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

17 How did Mr Stanford become prominent?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

18 Name the two countries which confronted each other.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

19 What was the prize for each player?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

20 Where are his business interests based?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
GRAMMAR

Circle the correct letter to complete the sentences.

1. Are there ______ apples in the kitchen? a. listen

b. listen to
a. much c. listening to
b. any
c. some 11. What __________ in your free time?

2. That is _____ interesting book. a. you do

b. do you do
a. the c. are you doing
b. a
c. an 12. My father _______ in a bank.

3. I went ______ church last Sunday. a. works

b. work
a. at c. is working
b. in
c. to 13. Would you like _______ coffee?

4. What _____ he like? - He is very friendly. a. any

b. an
a. does c. some
b. did
c. is 14. I _____ drive a car.

5. I ________ a new car last month. a. can't to

b. can
a. bought c. want
b. have bought
c. buyed 15. He likes watching TV ______ evening.

6. How ________ money do you have in your pocket? a. in the

b. at
a. many c. during
b. few
c. much 16. It ________ rain tomorrow.

7. He came ______ home late last night. a. is going to

b. will
a. - c. is
b. at
c. to 17. I drove my car _____ the garage.

8. Jack is a nice boy, and I like _____. a. in

b. at
a. - c. into
b. him
c. his 18. _________. Is there a post office near here?

9. I get up ______ seven o'clock every day a. Please

b. Excuse me
a. in c. Pardon
b. on
c. at 19. I live in ______.

10. I like __________ music. a. italy

b. Italy
 c. Italian a. at
b. in
20. The shop is at the end of this street _____ the c. on
right.

Choose a form of either 'make' or 'do' to complete the sentence. Each question has only one correct answer.

1 Q: I usually _____ the cleaning on Saturday 6 Q: I'm afraid I can't come. I'm going to _____
Morning. my homework after school.

do do

make make

7 Q: How much money does your father _____?

2 Q: Let's go out tonight and _____ the town!

make
make
do
do
8 Q: Tom's _____ a phone call at the moment, he'll
3 Q: I _____ an appointment to visit my doctor be back shortly.
yesterday.

doing
made
making
did
9 Q: He really doesn't want to _____ that decision.
4 Q: Excuse me, could you _____ me a favor and
watch my bags for a moment?
make

make do

do
10 Q: I like _____ business with Jack.

5 Q: Timmy! I told you to not _____ a mess in the

living room!
making

doing
make

do

Test your legal knowledge

Match the words and their meanings

1 Attorney A n. the place where law cases are hear and decided;
2 Case B responsible for wrong; culpable
3 Barrister UK C n. information presented to a court to prove or support a point in question
4 court of law D decision of a court, esp. as to the punishment 2 the punishment - also v.
5 judge E n. a lawyer who pleads before a superior court
6 evidence F n. 1 a person appointed to act for or represent another 2US lawyer
7 guilty G n. a group of people chosen to hear the evidence of a case and give a decision
8 jury H n. the formal decision or finding of a judge or jury
9 sentence I n. public official with authority to hear and decide cases in a court of law - also v.
10 verdict J . statement of the facts in a trial, esp. the argument of one side

FINDTHE WORDS CORRESPONDING TO THESE DEFINITIONS.

1 …………………………………………………………………. Is the offense of killing someone without intending to do so.

2 A ………………………………………………………………… is a legal document which begins the action in a

court of law.

3 …………………………………………………………………is the legal remedy which states that a person cannot

be kept in prison, unless he or she has been brought before a judge, who must decide
whether it is lawful for that person to be kept in prison.

4 A ………………………………………………………………… is he act of taking possession of something

according to a judge’s order or ruling.

5 A …………………………………………………………………is a legal point based on a strict interpretation of

he law.

COMMENT THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE

His property and many of his business interests, where he was based, were recently seized
by the islands government?
Do you think that a government has aright to seize someone’s property.
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