Where has Sir Allen Stanford gone?

Whether Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford is guilty or not of an alleged $9.2bn fraud, he certainly isn’t behaving like an innocent man. Having been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with a "massive fraud based on false promises", the authorities have not been able to find him.

What is known is that he tried to leave the United States yesterday on a private jet to Antigua – where there was a run on one of the banks he controls – but was unable to take off because his credit card was refused at Houston airport. Since then he has gone to ground.

Stanford hit the headlines last year when he sponsored a $1m-a-man Twenty20 cricket match in the West Indies. The SEC has accused him of operating a fraud centered on the sale of certificates of deposit from his Antiguan affiliate, Stanford International Bank Ltd (SIB).

Meanwhile, the English and Welsh Cricket Board, which signed up to Stanford's Twenty20 extravaganzas last year, has cancelled any further tie-ups with Stanford. This has proved a relief to his detractors, who have been horrified by Stanford's antics, which have included him flirting with the wives of England cricketers during at a game in Antigua last year.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott said:  "Whether hobnobbing with the players' wives, or flying into Lord's in a helicopter, Stanford made his aims quite clear: he wanted to inflate his own ego, and to add another ounce of lustre to his already puffed-up reputation. Whether he is a con man or not, everyone can surely agree that the tacky, vulgar circus that unfolded in Antigua last November was an embarrassment for the game." ·