HOUSTON — The chief investment officer of Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford’s companies pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from the first indictment in the federal government’s investigation of the troubled financial firm.
Laura Pendergest-Holt will remain free on bond after being indicted this week on one count of conspiring to obstruct a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the Houston-based Stanford Financial Group and one count of obstructing the investigation.
Her trial was set for July 20. If convicted, she could be sentenced up to five years in prison for each count and fined up to $250,000.
Dan Cogdell, one of Pendergest-Holt’s attorneys, said after the hearing Thursday that his client’s defense would be that “she’s not guilty.”
“She is about as appropriate and kind and decent a woman as there is,” Cogdell said. “She’s been defiled by the accusation.”
Pendergest-Holt did not say anything to reporters as she stood next to husband, Jim Holt, and held his hand. Prosecutors declined to comment after the hearing.
During her brief arraignment, Pendergest-Holt said very little.
She will remain free on the $300,000 bond that was issued after she was arrested and charged in February.
The SEC accuses Stanford and top executives of conducting an $8 billion fraud by advising clients to buy certificates of deposit at the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.
