Antigua, the tiny twin-island nation rocked by allegations of a massive fraud committed on its shores by one of its chief benefactors, Sir Allen Stanford, has received a helping hand from Venezuela in the form of a grant.

The debt-ridden, tourism-driven economy of Antigua has suffered since US regulators in February accused Sir Allen of operating a $7bn Ponzi scheme through his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, located in the island’s capital of St John’s.