TEXAS, United States, Thursday May 12, 2011 – Alleged Ponzi Schemer Allen Stanford will go to trial in another four months, a judge has decided.
US District Judge David Hittner, who had postponed Stanford’s January trial so he could get treatment for addiction to anti-depressants, this week signed an order for the court case to begin with jury selection on September 12.
Stanford’s defence team has not indicated whether it is in agreement with the new date.
However, one of his attorneys, Ali Fazel, said his client was still in rehab in a hospital unit at a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina. He has been there since Judge Hittner ruled him incompetent to stand trial and ordered rehab.
Stanford, who is accused of bilking investors out of US$7 billion through the sale of fraudulent certificates of deposit by his Stanford International Bank in Antigua, will face 14 charges when his trial begins.
He’d originally been charged with 21 counts including mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and obstructing a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation. However, prosecutors dropped seven of the charges last week.
The former billionaire could face 20 years in prison if convicted on any of the fraud counts.
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