HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Allen Stanford, the Texas  financier accused of a $7 billion fraud, is still hospitalized  and will undergo tests to determine if there is blockage of  veins or arteries in his heart, his lawyer’s office, said yesterday.

Stanford, 59, was hospitalized in Conroe, Texas with a  racing pulse on Thursday, hours before he was due in federal  court in Houston for a hearing.

He will undergo angioplasty or have a heart catheter  inserted, a representative for his attorney, Dick DeGuerin,  said. No other details were available.

The former billionaire is accused of masterminding a Ponzi  scheme that U.S. regulators describe as “massive.”

Stanford duped investors through the sale of fraudulent  certificates of deposit issued by his offshore bank in Antigua  and used those funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, according  to U.S. prosecutors.

Stanford is under increasing pressure related to the case.

On Thursday, his former Chief Financial Officer James Davis  pleaded guilty to three criminal charges related to the alleged  fraud. Davis is cooperating with prosecutors.

Stanford has denied any wrongdoing. He is being held in a  federal detention center about 40 miles north of Houston until  his trial.