The England and Wales Cricket Board announced Friday that it has terminated all its contracts with international cricket promoter and U.S. billionaire financier Alan Stanford, who has been formally charged by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally over an $8bn investment fraud.
"The ECB was shocked by the charges filed against the Stanford organization and personnel earlier this week by the SEC," said ECB chief executive David Collier. "Within minutes of the announcement, the ECB determined to suspend any further discussions with Stanford and the board has now agreed to terminate the ECB's agreements with Stanford."
Currently, the ECB has a five-year deal to play games against the Stanford Superstars, which is made up of West Indian players. Last year, Stanford had organized a Twenty20 competition between England and his Stanford Superstars, Stanford Superstars. It was the first of five planned annual games worth a total of $100 million.
Last Tuesday, the SEC had formally charged Allen Stanford, three of his companies and two executives of those companies over an $8bn investment fraud, following raids on the offices of his Stanford Financial Group in Houston, Texas.
The SEC said it was freezing the assets of Allen Stanford and his Stanford International Bank, Stanford Group and Stanford Capital Management, adding that a receiver has been appointed to "preserve assets for investors."
The SEC said that Stanford had orchestrated "a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme" based on "false promises and fabricated historical return data".
Stanford is a cricket fanatic and had promoted the game in the Caribbean. He was knighted by the government of Antigua and Barbuda in 2006, and is listed as the 605th richest man in the world, worth some $2.2 billion. He holds an Antiguan citizenship and has a home in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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