On the run: 'Sir' Allen Stanford. The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the Texan-born billionaire and his close staff of misleading investors and falsely claiming their money was safely invested and delivering healthy returns.The criminal investigation into the business empire of the cricket tycoon Sir Allen Stanford sowed panic in the Caribbean and Latin America yesterday as governments and investors scrambled to uncover the extent of the alleged $8bn fraud.
The prime minister of Antigua warned of "catastrophe" for the nation, depositors rushed to withdraw funds in bank branches around the region, and authorities in Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela began their own investigations into the Texas billionaire's financial dealings.
Last night, US television channels reported that Stanford had attempted to leave the country by private jet from Houston to Antigua, but the plane leasing company refused his credit card.
On Tuesday the US securities and exchange commission accused Stanford of fraudulently selling $8bn (£5.6bn) in high-yield certificates of deposit. It sought to freeze assets and appoint a receiver. But the tycoon himself was nowhere to be found and US marshals were reportedly unable to serve him with court orders.
Sources at the SEC confirmed they were searching for the billionaire, who has not been seen in public since news of alleged fraud broke. Stanford International Bank has 30,000 clients in 131 countries, as well as advisers in 30 US offices.
Antigua, a sleepy island with a population of 70,000, forming half of a Caribbean nation with Barbuda, risks being the worst hit. It was here that Stanford set up his headquarters in a 30,000 sq ft Georgian-style hilltop building.
The Stanford Investment Bank looked outwardly calm yesterday. Its giant mahogany doors were shut and security guards turned reporters away from the elegant compound lush with flowering bougainvillea and palm trees. But a steady stream of wealthy investors could be seen seeking to withdraw their fortunes.
Gonzalo Gonzalez had flown from Venezuela. He had been told he could not take any money out and was anxiously awaiting a meeting with management.
A British expatriate who asked not to give her name said she feared she had lost her entire savings of $500,000. She first became concerned about the bank last week when a brother-in-law in Canada warned her that trouble was brewing and she immediately put in for a total withdrawal. But it takes five working days for the notice to come through; her deadline is today, which is likely to be too late.
Educated in Roehampton, and having lived in Antigua for the past 12 years, she said her lifestyle in retirement with her husband was now in tatters. "We will have to work out how much we have left."
Stanford is the island's biggest investor and private employer. He has lived there for more than 20 years and holds dual US-Antiguan citizenship. He was the first American to receive a knighthood from the island's government.
"The fall-out threatens catastrophic and immediate consequences ... There is no need for panic," Baldwin Spencer, the prime minister said on television. He said he was working on a contingency plan with the six-nation eastern Caribbean central bank and Antigua's central bank.
The affair has invited comparisons with the events surrounding the Wall Street investment manager Bernard Madoff, who is suspected of a $50bn fraud.
In Venezuela, hundreds of depositors tried for a second day to withdraw savings in the Caracas branches of Stanford International. Venezuelans have about $2.5bn invested in the bank, the country's regulator said. The government tried to calm clients of a Venezuelan sister firm whose assets were not linked to the business.
The fallout shook English cricket. Giles Clarke was urged to consider his position as the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
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