Judge orders accused schemer Stanford jailed until trial
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R. Allen Stanford, the Texas financier accused of masterminding a $7-billion Ponzi scheme, must remain incarcerated until his trial, a federal judge ruled today.
From Reuters:
U.S. prosecutors had argued that Stanford, who faces life in prison if convicted on all charges contained in a 21-count indictment, had the means and motive to flee. ‘In total, the evidence proffered by the government is sufficient to weigh in favor of detention,’ U.S. District Judge David Hittner said in an order that revokes a $500,000 bond that a magistrate had granted Stanford on Thursday. Stanford, who is more accustomed to jetting around the globe in his private planes, has been in custody since his arrest on June 18 in Virginia. He is currently being held in a federal detention center in a facility 40 miles north of Houston. The government accuses the billionaire of leading a massive Ponzi scheme using the investor funds from certificates of deposit issued by his bank in Antigua.
Stanford’s lawyer, Dick Guerin, said in a statement that he would appeal to a higher court.
-- Tom Petruno