Sea Eagle, the megayacht owned by R. Allen Stanford, a financier indicted for defrauding investors, sold at auction this week. His lawyers term the winning bid of $3.25 million a “fire sale” price.
The 112-foot Hakvoort, built in 1998, was seized in February 2009. It followed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing suit against Stanford. A federally appointed receiver for the SEC has been selling Stanford’s assets and investments, with the funds helping repay his creditors and investors more than $7 billion. Specifically where Sea Eagle was concerned, Ardell Yacht & Ship was the central agent for the federal receivership.
Sea Eagle went up for auction on March 11. The opening bid was $2.5 million, with a preset 60-day bidding period. Prior to the auction, Stanford’s lawyers argued that the opening bid was too low. “Mr. Stanford invested over $16 million in renovating the Sea Eagle, stripping the vessel to its hull and rebuilding it into one of the finest sport fishing boats in the world,” Ruth Brewer Schuster stated, according to Bloomberg News. “Any failure to sell the Sea Eagle for an amount far and above Ardell’s asking price of $6.5 million will be a complete waste of estate assets.” The MTU engines only had 471 hours on them, and the yacht had been refitted by Hakvoort from 2005 to 2006.
Despite Stanford’s protest, Sea Eagle was ordered to be sold at that opening bid, “as is, where is.” This included all personal belongings left onboard: china, silver, crystal, linens, sculptures, rods and reels, and more. There’s also a mirror etched with the eagle shield logo of Stanford Financial Group, Stanford’s company.
According to Bloomberg News, just two bidders emerged. Bloomberg also indicates that one of the bidders returned two hours before the auction’s end on May 10 to place the final bid.
Leave a Reply