国际英语新闻：U.S. financier Allen Stanford to be jailed until fraud trial

HOUSTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Monday that indicted U.S. billionaire Allen Stanford must remain jailed until his fraud trial.

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday upheld a lower-court ruling that revoked the Texan financier's bond on the grounds that he is a flight risk and should remain in custody until his trial, which could be a year away.

    Stanford was initially granted bail by a magistrate judge, but U.S. District Judge David Hittner revoked the bond after prosecutors argued that the 59-year-old Texas financier is a serious flight risk.

    Stanford's attorneys had argued that Stanford was not a flight risk, and appealed for his release on bail so he can assist in defending investment fraud charges that may lead to a life sentence for him.

    Stanford and four executives of his now defunct Stanford Financial Group are accused of orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme and swindling investors of as much as 7 billion U.S. dollars.

    Stanford has been in federal custody since his arrest on June 18. He will return to court Thursday for a public hearing to determine who will represent him legally, according to local media reports.

Texas billionaire Allen Stanford appears before federal Magistrate Judge M. Hannah Lauck in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia in this June 19, 2009 courtroom sketch. Lauck ordered Stanford, a flamboyant 59-year-old financier, be transferred to Houston for a hearing on whether he should be granted bail on fraud and obstruction charges stemming from a $7 billion pyramid scheme to bilk investors. Stanford could face up to 250 years in prison if convicted on all of the charges brought by a grand jury in Texas