Stanford surrenders his passport, but is nowhere to be seen

by Jordan Yerman | February 20, 2009 at 11:46 am

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Allen Stanford has surrendered his passport to the US Government, although he is still laying low and is no where to be found.

Texas billionaire Allen Stanford has surrendered his passport in keeping with a court order, a spokesman for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday, but he was nowhere to be seen as this case played itself out on the world stage.

He has been served with papers, but Allen Stanford, accused by the FBI of an $8 billion fraud, is continuing to lay low as the press encamps outside the house of a supposed girlfriend.

Stanford is not considered a fugitive, according to the FBI (see below), as the case against him is civil, and not criminal*.

As customers from Houston to Caracas desperately sought to recoup their investments, Stanford's whereabouts were a mystery again even after FBI agents served the 58-year-old financier with a formal fraud complaint on Thursday.

Meanwhile, The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is severing its contracts with Stanford, a major backer of the Twenty20 league.

The ECB said it is cancelling all its contracts with Stanford and will not participate in Twenty20 events in Antigua or a four-team tournament scheduled at Lord's in May.

The ECB had been under pressure to act after its judgment in signing up for a US$20-million winner-takes-all match between England and a West Indies select team last November was questioned following the concerns over Stanford's dealings.

Questions are being asked regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission's failure to act on earlier warnings regarding Stanford's activities.

Meanwhile, despite assurances of "sufficient reserves", Antiguan customers of Stanford International bank were taking no chances... would you? The result was seizure of Stanford's banks by the Antiguan government.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank says it took control of the Bank of Antigua to prevent a run on the bank after the SEC filed civil fraud charges against Sir Allen in the US.

The move by Antigua regulators is aimed at maintaining stability and reassuring customers, correspondents say

(* Apparently if the amount stolen has enough zeroes after it, then it's no longer a criminal case?)

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