Allen Stanford gives bizarre interview

Allen Stanford, the colourful Texan oil billionaire and cricket fan now accused of an $8bn fraud, has often been described as flamboyant - and he lived up to his reputation on Monday during an emotional, and at times bizarre, interview with Brian Ross of ABC News during which he burst into tears before threatening to punch him (see below).

Stanford, who has financial interests in the Caribbean, ran the gamut of emotions during his encounter with the reporter, at first weeping over the plight of his employees and then turning nasty at the suggestion that he had links to Mexican drugs gangs.

He angrily denied claims that he was involved in a Ponzi scheme like the one that did for Bernie Madoff. At one point he said he would "die and go to hell" if his investment plans were a financial pyramid scheme. Sipping from a water bottle, he said that comparisons to Madoff were "bullshit" and "baloney".

Stanford, who has his own cricket complex in Antigua and funded a single game of cricket to the tune of $20m, also described his way of life as frugal, declaring: "I flew around in a private jet, I had a boat, but I always lived very frugally."

Tears flowed as he spoke about how much he loved his workers, but he showed a different side when questioned about alleged links to Latin American drugs gangs. The hulking 6ft 5in Texan told a startled Ross: "If you say it to my face again I will punch you in the mouth," before quickly telling the reporter. "No, I'm not going to punch you in the mouth. I am just saying that is an absolutely ludicrous thing to say."

A UK court this week froze more than $100m of assets belonging to Stanford International Bank (SIB), Stanford's Antigua-based financial group, at the request of the US Government.

Sir Allen is well known to English cricket fans after he signed a deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board, to the dismay of many, who found his approach too brash. That deal has since been terminated.
 ·