Allen Stanford pleads not guilty to fraud charges

HOUSTON: Texan cricket mogul and financier Allen Stanford on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 21 charges of a multi-billion dollar fraud, money-laundering and obstruction.

Stanford appeared in a Houston court along with three co-accused to face the charges arising out of a decade-long investment scam allegedly run out of the offices of the Stanford International Bank on the Caribbean island of Antigua.

Asked how he pled, Stanford, handcuffed and dressed in a prison orange jumpsuit, said outright: "Not guilty." He could face up to 250 years if convicted on all charges.

In a 57-page indictment, the US Department of Justice alleged the scam started in September 1999 and continued until about February 17 this year, attracting some 30,000 investors from across the world.

Certified fraud examiner Jeffrey Ferguson, working for the court-appointed receivers, told the court Thursday that as of February Stanford's company owed clients 5.4 billion dollars.

There was also another 1.18 billion missing, which could not be accounted for.

Stanford was accused along with his chief investment officer Laura Pendergest-Holt, accountants Mark Kuhrt and Gilberto Lopez and former Antigua financial regulatory agency chief Leroy King.

King was not in court, but the judge Frances Stacy was told that he had been arrested in Antigua on Wednesday and extradition proceedings had been started.

After the pleas were taken, a heated debate followed on whether to grant Stanford bail, and the case was adjourned for lunch after three hours.