Authorities were trying to track down Texas billionaire financier Allen Stanford on Thursday as fraud charges against the cricket promoter prompted panicked investors to withdraw cash from his banks. Five Latin American countries have now taken action against Stanford businesses, while Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is monitoring a possible UK link after media reports that Stanford's books were audited in Britain. Two days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Stanford, 58, of perpetrating “a fraud of shocking magnitude,” SEC officials were still in the dark about his whereabouts – as too were close members of his family. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle newspaper, Stanford's 81-year-old father James said that he had no idea of his whereabouts. “I cannot imagine, I cannot believe, I will not believe what is being alleged actually happened.” In the Caribbean and Latin America, authorities sought to quell fears among depositors who formed long queues outside local branches. Faced with a run on the bank by panicked Venezuelans, Caracas “made a decision to intervene and to immediately sell” financial companies owned by Stanford, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said Thursday. Stanford Bank Venezuela, which has 15 branches in the country, already has received offers from interested parties, he said. Peru's securities regulator on Thursday suspended operations for 30 days at the local office of Stanford Financial Group, promising it was working to secure investors' funds. In Panama, banking authorities on Wednesday took over “administrative control” of a local Stanford subsidiary Thursday after nervous clients made massive withdrawals of deposits. Ecuador suspended a Stanford affiliate from operating in the Quito stock until the company resolves the claims. The Stanford affiliate in Colombia agreed on Wednesday to suspend its activities on the Bogota stock exchange. Banking authorities said they had taken steps to “protect customers and investors in the entity and to preserve confidence in the stock market.” In Antigua, people queued up at the Stanford-owned Bank of Antigua to withdraw funds. In Mexico however, officials said in statement Thursday that they were opting to keep Stanford-linked companies open for now. Stanford ran the most high profile alleged fraud scheme since the SEC charged Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff with carrying out a 50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme in December.
