* U.S judge orders Stanford to stay in jail

* Gov't says bond should be higher if Stanford let go

* Hearing for Monday morning

* Stanford not a flight risk-attorney
(Adds comment from Stanford's lawyer)

By Anna Driver

HOUSTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Financier Allen Stanford will
remain in a Texas jail at least until Monday as a federal judge
reconsiders his $500,000 bond at the urging of prosecutors who
say the accused swindler is a flight risk, according to a
ruling on Friday.

Stanford, who faces criminal charges for a $7 billion Ponzi
scheme, arrived at the courthouse early on Friday dressed in a
suit and ready to walk free after a magistrate judge set the
terms of his release following a lengthy hearing on Thursday.

But federal prosecutors, who believe the billionaire is a
serious flight risk, asked that Stanford's bail approval be
postponed until U.S. District Judge David Hittner reviewed the
matter.

Judge Hittner ordered that Stanford be held in custody at
least until a hearing on Monday at 1030 CDT (1530 GMT), where
he will consider whether the magistrate's release order should
be revoked.

"The evidence is clear and convincing that Allen Stanford
is not a flight risk," Dick DeGuerin, Stanford's attorney said
in a statement via email. "To the contrary, Allen Stanford has
been spending the months since the SEC first accused him
meeting with lawyers in Houston and Washington, D.C. preparing
for the fight ahead of him."

On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy said
Stanford may leave federal custody, provided he comes up with
$100,000 for a cash bond, lives with his girlfriend in a
Houston high-rise apartment and wears a tracking device.

Stanford, 59, pleaded not guilty to a 21-count indictment
on Thursday. He has been locked up since last week when he
surrendered to federal agents in Virginia.

STILL SMILING

Stanford, who appeared at Thursday's hearing in a
prison-issued orange jumpsuit, was led into the courthouse by
U.S. Marshals on Friday morning still shackled but smiling.

And even at his detention hearing on Thursday, the
flamboyant sports patron seemed very relaxed, smiling
frequently at his supporters, including his parents, estranged
wife, two former girlfriends, his current girlfriend and at
least four of his six children.

Paul Pelletier, a federal prosecutor, argued at the
detention hearing that Stanford has the motive to flee because
if convicted, he faces life in prison.

Stanford also has a "network of wealthy acquaintances" to
tap for financial support and he may have access to large sums
of money that the government has not been able to locate,
prosectors said.

Stanford and five others were charged last week with fraud,
conspiracy and obstruction.

A 21-count indictment lays out a scheme where Stanford and
others falsified records and bribed regulators who had
oversight of Stanford's offshore bank in Antigua, bilking the
bank's certificate of deposit customers out of $7 billion.

Stanford also faces civil fraud charges filed by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. They have also accused him
of a "massive" Ponzi scheme where CD proceeds were used to pay
earlier investors.
(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston, editing by Dave
Zimmerman, Matthew Lewis and Carol Bishopric)