Stanford says he stood out as SEC target

HOUSTON, April 21 (UPI) -- Texas financier R. Allen Stanford said he was innocent of running an $8 billion Ponzi scheme, claiming he stood out as a target for regulators.

"As God is my witness, there is no Ponzi scheme, there was no intentional fraud," Stanford said in an interview, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Stanford said he was not well versed in the details of the Stanford International Bank in Antigua, which Securities and Exchange Commission authorities seized in February.

Authorities also seized Stanford's personal accounts and those of Chief Financial Officer James Davis and Chief Investment Officer Laura Pendergest-Holt.

Also accused of taking out a fraudulent $1.6 billion loan from his bank, Stanford now has three suits, a wallet full of credit cards he cannot use and an attorney he cannot afford, the newspaper said.

An SEC civil suit claims the bank "reverse-engineered" financial statements to fit predetermined investment goals, the newspaper said.

In the interview, Stanford said he was "a maverick rich Texan, so I'm a pretty colorful moose head to put on the wall."