A recent jury decision in Louisiana acquitted the state’s Office of Financial Institutions of liability in relation to the $400 million in losses suffered by retirees due to the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by R. Allen Stanford from Texas. The verdict was reached in a state court in Baton Rouge following a three-week trial, as reported by The Advocate.

R. Allen Stanford was handed a 110-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in a $7.2 billion scam that centered around the sale of fake certificates of deposits from the Stanford International Bank. Approximately 1,000 investors filed a lawsuit against the Louisiana OFI after investing in certificates of deposit from the Stanford Trust Company between 2007 and 2009. However, lawyers representing the state agency successfully argued that the OFI had limited jurisdiction over the assets and had no prior knowledge of any fraudulent activities within the company before June 2008.

In response to the jury’s verdict last Friday, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Phil Preis, expressed disappointment, stating, “Obviously, the class members are devastated by the recent ruling. This was the first Stanford Ponzi Scheme case to be tried by a jury of the victims’ peers. The class members had waited 15 years, and the system has once again failed them.”