King of the Castle Faces Paternity Suit

The Miami Herald 6/10/2007

Texas billionaire Robert Allen Stanford, who purchased the 57 room Tyecliffe castle in Gables Estates from Wackenhut family in 2003 is now a defendant in a Miami Dade paternity suit.

Louise Sage, 40, says Stanford, 57, is the daddy of Ross Allen Stanford, 11 and R. Allena Stanford,9

She wants custody, plus child support – lots.

Sage asserts that Stanford has continued to support a household for the children, maintaining a lifestyle to which they’ve long been accustomed.

In court documents, her attorneys, Maurice Kutner and Anthony Sabatino, describe the children’s lifestyle as including:

• Gymnastics classes
• A 20-foot yacht
• $100,000 per year for trips to Nantucket
• Private air travel (the children “do not fly commercially”; they travel aboard Stanford’s fleet of aircraft)
• A $10.5 million residence
• A household checking account funded at $25,000 per month

Stanford’s attorney, Albert Caruana, argues that the suit is without merit:

“He has always supported the children in an honorable lifestyle as a devoted dad, and this action is unnecessary and certainly not for the children’s benefit. She brought this action in order to gain some form of financial benefit for herself, which the paternity laws do not permit.”

Public records show that the couple twice applied for a marriage license — in 2002 and 2003. Status: “Not returned.”

Circuit Judge Roberto Pineiro has the case.