US fraud claim sparks bank panic

Hundreds of investors in Latin America and the Caribbean have rushed to withdraw money from banks linked to US billionaire Allen Stanford after he was charged over an alleged $8bn fraud.

Customers in the Caribbean island of Antigua, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other nations besieged Stanford banks to try to withdraw money.

On Tuesday US officials raided Stanford's main offices in Houston, Texas as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges against Stanford and two of his executives for "massive fraud".

The SEC also froze Stanford's assets and those of three of his companies, Stanford International Bank, based in Antigua, and Stanford Group and Stanford Capital Management, both based in Houston.

Stanford is accused of lying about the safety of investments he sold as "certificates of deposit" (CDs) and promising unrealistically high rates of return.

Regulators also allege he forged historical data about other investments which he then used to lure in more investors for his products.

The whereabouts of Stanford, a wealthy billionaire from Texas, remain unknown, the SEC has said.

Continue Reading