Stanford gets 2011 date for criminal case

Stanford has been in custody since being charged in June with a total 21 criminal charges stemming from the alleged US$8 billion fraud conducted through the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank (SIB).

TEXAS, United States, December 18, 2009 – Fraud accused Allen Stanford will spend another year in prison before his criminal even begins.

Prosecutors wanted a September 2010 trial date and the former billionaire’s attorney wanted a later summer 2011 start. But US District Judge David Hittner announced that the case would begin in January 2011.

Stanford has been in custody since being charged in June  with a total 21 criminal charges stemming from the alleged US$8 billion fraud conducted through the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank (SIB).

He has been denied bail because he is considered a flight risk.

Leroy King, the head of Antigua and Barbuda’s financial regulatory body – the Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) – is still not in US custody despite being charged with charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, conspiracy to launder illegal proceeds, and conspiracy to obstruct the US Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into Stanford and SIB.

He was due to appear in court  in Antigua for his extradition hearing this week, but the case was postponed.

It has been alleged that King accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and gifts from Stanford to turn a blind eye to his illegal activities. He also allegedly conducted sham audits and examination of SIB's books and records.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Attorney General Justin Simon told Fox Business Network this week that the government is about to finalise a Mutual Legal Assistance Treat with the US, which will allow it to exchange evidence that could be used to prosecute Stanford and others in America.