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Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire who has caused uproar in the world of cricket with his US$1 million ($1.9 million)-per-player Twenty20 tournament, is being investigated in the United States amid accusations of fraud.
Three separate financial regulators have visited offices of his Stanford Group banking empire, after suggestions that the company's investment profits are too good to be true.
Stanford vehemently denies the suggestions, but the investigations add an extra headache for him.
He has been laying off staff in Antigua, where he is based, and now looks likely to pull the plug on his trumpeted US$100 million deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board.
He is believed to be close to announcing his exit from the five-year deal, which became an embarrassment to the board.
The deal envisioned an annual US$20 million Twenty20 tournament in Antigua and an annual four-team tournament involving the West Indies and England. The first of those, planned for May at Lord's in London, is still expected to go ahead.
Criticism of his brash behaviour, which began when he landed his personal helicopter at Lord's last summer and unveiled a case full of US$20 million in cash, has soured his involvement with the sport, at the same time as the credit crisis has piled pressure on entrepreneurs, particularly those in the finance industry.
Investigators visited Florida offices of the Houston, Texas-based Stanford Group last month as part of a probe that dates back at least three months, said a US official with knowledge of the probe who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to provide information about it.
The probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority - the US brokerage industry's self-policing body - and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation seeks to determine if Stanford's company violated financial regulations or laws as it prospered and delivered high returns on certificates of deposit in recent years, the official said.
A spokeswoman for the Florida agency confirmed its investigation but said she could not disclose details.
In an email to employees, Stanford said his company was co-operating with the probe of its operations.
He also said "former disgruntled employees" made complaints that could complicate an "otherwise routine examination", without going into details.
"I want to assure you that if they find any areas in which we need to improve or alter our operations, we will take immediate action to correct them.
"You and our clients deserve no less."
Stanford is one of the most prominent businessmen in the Caribbean, with investment advisers around the world helping him grow a personal fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at US$2.2 billion.
His Stanford International Bank said deposits grew from US$624 million in 1999 to US$8.4 billion in December. The bank is based in the twin-island Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which has carved out a niche as a tax haven and offshore base for internet gambling.
The bank, Stanford said in the email, remained strong. He said he had made two capital infusions and was considering other steps to protect depositors.
"You, your managers and I, will fight with every breath to continue to uphold our good name and continue the legacy we have built together."
- INDEPENDENT, AP
