Another Ponzi scheme arrest, this one with ties to Boca Raton
Law enforcement sources confirm that billionaire financier R. Allen Stanford is now in custody. He was arrested Thursday night by FBI agents at his sister's house in Stafford, Virginia.
Stanford has been accused by the SEC of running a massive Ponzi scheme.
He surrendered to FBI agents from the Washington and Richmond field offices. It is believed he will be taken to for processing. The Department of Justice is expected to make an announcement Friday regarding possible charges.
Stanford's Attorney Dick DeGuerin said Stanford walked out and asked if the agents had a warrant. He told them to arrest him if they did and that he planned to return to Houston on Friday to turn himself in if they didn't.
A grand jury in Houston has been investigating Stanford Financial Group. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges earlier this year accusing Stanford and his top executives of conducting an $8 billion fraud by advising clients to buy certificates of deposit from the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank. Investigators have said the Texas billionaire financier's offshore bank and financial companies used rosy financial predictions and old-fashioned deceit to lure investors into a scam. There is a Stanford Financial Group office in Boca Raton.
In March, a federal judge ruled that the government could go after at least $226.6 million in back taxes, penalties and interest it says are owed by Stanford.
