Engineer M. Moore, 58, waits outside a Stanford International Bank branch in Mexico City yesterday to withdraw his money. Panicky depositors were turned away from Stanford International Bank and some of its Latin American affiliates, unable to withdraw their money after US regulators accused Stanford of perpetrating an US$8 billion (RM29 billion) fraud against his companies' investors. — AP pic
The billionaire businessman was attempting to fly from Houston in Texas to Antigua, where panic erupted yesterday with more than 600 people launching a run on one of the banks he controls.
The tycoon was reportedly blocked from leaving the US after the private jet company refused to accept his credit card.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which has alleged a £5.6 billion (RM29 billion) fraud against him, said it had no information about the whereabouts of the brash, 58-year-old financier and US marshals have been unable to serve him with court orders.
The alleged fraud centres on "false promises" of improbably high interest rates made through the sale of certificates of deposit from his Antiguan affiliate, Stanford International Bank Ltd (SIB).
In London, the Serious Fraud Office said it was "monitoring" developments but has yet to launch a full investigation.
It is understood to be liaising with the SEC after it emerged that Stanford's bank, which claimed to control more than £35 billion in assets, was audited by a small accountancy firm based in north London.
An SFO spokesman said: "We are aware of the reported links through auditing activities with our jurisdiction in the UK.
"It is our intention to touch base and to make an assessment of the practice which appears to be involved."
In the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda, where Stanford is the biggest private employer, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said the charges against him could have "catastrophic" consequences but urged the public not to panic.
There were also runs on banks connected with Stanford in Venezuela and Panama, with hundreds of people queuing to get their money out.
Venezuelans have about £1.75 billion invested in SIB and investors besieged its local offices in Caracas.
Stanford had become famous in the cricket world for a US$20 million (RM72 million) game between England and his own team of West Indian players last November.
He had been in now-suspended talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board, over a five-year deal for England to play against the Stanford Superstars.
Senior figures in the game are now describing the £70 million link up plan with Stanford as a "fiasco".
The SEC said Stanford had failed to respond to subpoenas seeking testimony and had not produced "a single document."
He has homes in Antigua, Miami, and the US Virgin Islands but spends less than 90 days a year in the US for tax reasons.
A judge has frozen froze Stanford's £1.4 billion of his assets.
Two police officers stood watch at the Bank of Antigua as hundreds of people stood in a line stretching around a street corner, despite assurances from regional monetary authorities that the bank had sufficient reserves.
Andrea Lamar, 28, who joined the line with a friend on a street popular with tourists in the state capital, St John's said: "I'm worried and I'd like to get my money out."
Richard Dwyer, 29, from Boston, said: "It's all my student loan money. I owe interest on top of it so I hope I can pull it out."
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank said many depositors had started to withdraw funds "causing some anxiety".
As people bombarded local radio talk shows government officials tried to assure citizens that the banks were sound.
Stanford lived for more than 20 years on the reef-girded island, only 14km wide and 19km long and with a population of 70,000.
He owns the country's largest newspaper and is the first American to receive a knighthood from its government. — The Daily Telegraph
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