Accused by the SEC of overseeing a $1.6bn fraud: Sir Allen Stanford

Prospective investors in Stanford Financial Group could expect to receive a regal wooing. For their appointment at the Houston headquarters, they were whisked to upper floors where the decor of mahogany and dark green was set off by tapestries and oriental carpets. After a film about the history of the company, they would be shown to lunch in the intimate Eagle Room of 10 or so tables.