Alleged Ponzi scheme mastermind Stanford found unfit to stand trial

A U.S. judge in Houston, TX ruled today that Texas billionaire Allen Stanford is incompetent to stand trial and must go to a rehabilitation center for addiction to pain medication.

Stanford, who became well known for creating the StanfordTwenty cricket tournament in the West Indies in 2004, is charged with a massive Ponzi scheme in which he sold $7 billion worth of phony certificates of deposit to investors that had improbably high interest rates through his bank, Stanford International Ltd., headquartered in Antigua.

Stanford suffered an injury as the result of being attacked in jail in 2008 on charges of fraud and money laundering. Part of his recovery involved taking large doses of habit-forming pain medication, which his lawyers said he is now addicted to.

The court finds Stanford is incompetent to stand trial at this time based on his apparent impaired ability to rationally assist his attorneys in preparing his defence, US District Judge David Hittner wrote in his ruling in Houston, Texas.

Stanford faces up to 371 years in jail on 21 counts of fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.