Allen Stanford deemed fit to stand trial

Former cricket mogul will be tried over charges that he defrauded investors in his Antigua-based bank

The former billionaire and one-time cricket mogul Allen Stanford is mentally fit to stand trial, a US judge has ruled. The Texan businessman will now go on trial next month on charges of swindling investors out of more than $7bn, or4.5bn.

Prosecutors had argued Stanford, 61, was trying to escape trial by faking amnesia. His defence argued that head injuries he received in a 2009 prison assault, and powerful anxiety medication prescribed after the beating, left him suicidal and incapable of defending himself in court. "I've found by a preponderance of the evidence Stanford is competent to stand trial," said judge David Hittner in Houston.

He is accused of defrauding investors in his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank. Once one of the most influential men in cricket, known as "Sir Allen" after being knighted, he has been in prison since his arrest in 2009, on the grounds he would otherwise try to flee justice.

Stanford's trial was due in January, but three doctors testified he was incapable of assisting in his defence due to "extensive retrograde amnesia" caused by the assault and exacerbated by over-medication. In court papers the fallen financier claimed family members had to "educate" him on his previous life, and being "completely amnestic to his life prior to the assault", 59 years had been "stolen" from him.

Prosecutors cited more than 16 neuropsychological tests and a brain scan as evidence he is faking. Two prison doctors found Stanford's test scores worse than subjects with advanced dementia. Robert Cochrane, a psychologist, told the court Stanford had failed every test designed to expose fakers. Ralph Lilly, a neurologist testifying for Stanford, said he was not fit to stand trial: "His memory is like a crossword puzzle that's fallen to the ground and doesn't come together anymore."

Prosecutors claim Stanford skimmed money from investor f! unds to finance a lavish lifestyle: his own private island, jets and yachts, mansions, and cash for his estranged wife, girlfriend, mistresses, and their children. He denies wrongdoing.


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