Texas billionaire Allen Stanford was prepared to surrender to U.S. authorities in Virginia on Thursday night after a warrant was issued for his arrest, Stanford's lawyer said.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest, Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin said, saying that he had spoken by phone to Stanford, who is accused of a massive fraud. He will surrender.

It was not yet clear what criminal charges he faces. According to the Houston Chronicle, a grand jury weighing the charges against Stanford returned a sealed indictment earlier on Thursday.

A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment. The Houston Federal Bureau of Investigation also declined comment.

According to DeGuerin, Stanford was at his girlfriend's home in the Washington suburb of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was prepared to surrender to FBI agents.

He's at his lady-friend's house right now, DeGuerin said. He's going to walk outside and surrender.

However, DeGuerin said the FBI had not yet arrived to take Stanford into custody. It's like the Keystone Cops, DeGuerin told Reuters via telephone.

Stanford, 58, already faces civil charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that he fraudulently sold $8 billion in certificates of deposit with improbably high interest rates from his Stanford International Bank Ltd (SIB), headquartered in Antigua.

(Reporting by Chris Baltimore; Editing by Gary Hill)

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