ECB suspend Stanford negotiations

The England and Wales Cricket Board have suspended negotiations with Sir Allen Stanford after it emerged he had been charged over a "massive fraud based on false promises" in the United States.

Stanford, three of his companies and two of his business associates were charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for "orchestrating a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme centring on an 8 billion dollar CD (certificate of deposit) programme".

The controversial Texan agreed a deal with the ECB last summer over five one-off encounters, to be played annually each November, with 10 million dollars in prize money to the winners, although the matches were dogged by problems over sponsorship deals struck with the West Indies Cricket Board.

Stanford had been expected to become a major backer of the proposed English Premier League Twenty20 tournament from 2010, but all negotiations are now on hold following the announcement of the SEC charges.

Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of enforcement at the SEC, said: "Stanford and the close circle of family and friends with whom he runs his businesses perpetuated a massive fraud based on false promises and fabricated historical return data to prey on investors."

Regulators allege that Stanford International Bank, through a network of advisers, sold 8 billion US dollars (£5.62 billion) worth of so-called "certificates of deposit" to investors promising "improbable and unsubstantiated" high returns.

Buyers of these CDs were told these deposits were safe, it is alleged.

Stanford has been placed under a temporary restraining order and has had his assets frozen.

The Texas-born businessman currently holds dual citizenship with Antigua and Barbuda. He became the first American to be knighted by the Commonwealth nation in 2006.