Stanford due in court for fraud trial

Allen Stanford, the Texas businessman accused of orchestrating a $7bn Ponzi scheme over a decade, goes on trial on Monday, the FT reports. US prosecutors allege Mr Stanford enriched himself by misleading customers to invest in certificates of deposit, misused their funds and bribed an Antiguan regulator with Super Bowl tickets to obstruct a US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into his bank. During that time, Mr Stanford flew around the globe on private jets to promote the bank, Stanford Financial Group, ran an international cricket tournament and owned Antigua’s largest newspaper. He has been held in prison since his arrest in June 2009 on 14 counts of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction. The Texan has denied wrongdoing. Mr Stanford’s lawyers say he will testify in his own defence at the trial, which is being held in Houston. They have suggested in court filings that they will argue he never intended to defraud customers and that the value of his other companies could have been used to pay CD depositors.