HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Allen Stanford hired a Dallas lawyer to represent him in a case where he is accused of an $8 billion fraud by the U.S. government, court records showed.
Texan billionaire Stanford, two top aides and three of his companies are accused of a long-running Ponzi scheme by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission involving high-yield certificates of deposit.
Stanford, who was served with a summons by FBI agents on Feb. 19 in Virginia, has yet to respond to the charges by the SEC and has maintained a low profile. He does not face criminal charges. Court records show the flamboyant billionaire has retained Charles Meadows, a partner at a Dallas law firm and fellow alumnus of Baylor University. According to the firm’s website, Meadows specializes in white collar cases and civil and criminal tax litigation.
A call to Meadows was not immediately returned. Meadows told the Houston Chronicle that he so far was hired to represent Stanford at a hearing in Dallas on Monday, but they were in discussions about additional work.
