Wanted Billionaire Banker Stanford Found in Virginia

R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire financial advisor and banker charged with orchestrating an $8 billion investment scheme, has been tracked down in Virginia, FBI officials said.

Stanford, 58, was charged this week along with two high-ranking associates and accused of selling fraudulent high-yield certificates of deposit for his Stanford International Bank. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Stanford falsified documents to entice investors into parting with their money on promises of high interest rate returns which were nothing more than hot air.

His whereabouts had been unknown for days and since he has ample real estate holdings in and around the Caribbean nation of Antigua, many feared Stanford might have fled the United States in an attempt to avoid prosecution.

However, the FBI said its agents Stanford in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, area on February 19, 2009 and served him with court papers accusing him of massive fraud. No other details of the encounter were available.

Stanford was not placed under arrest, officials said, and it was not know whether he surrendered his passport.

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