James Davis, the chief financial officer of Stanford Financial Companies who divided his time between his home in Baldwyn, Mississippi, and office in Memphis, is reportedly cooperating with federal investigations of the company.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Davis, a college roommate of company CEO Allen Stanford, is assisting the feds in criminal and civil probes, according to his attorney, David Finn of Dallas.
Davis, who has a mansion in Dry Creek outside of Baldwyn, was the mentor of Laura Pendergest-Holt, Stanford’s chief investments officer. She is the only person charged criminally so far.
The Securities Exchange Commission has accused Stanford Financial of “a massive Ponzi scheme” involving CDs in a bank in Antigua. Losses are estimated at $8 billion. Stanford has an office in the Crescent Center in East Memphis where Davis and Pendergest-Holt worked.
Davis founded a church in Guntown, Mississippi, and formed a company that renovated several buildings in downtown Baldwyn. Stanford also has an office in nearby Tupelo.
— John Branston