Billionaire Allen Stanford hires civil lawyer

By Anna Driver

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Allen Stanford, who is accused of an $8 billion (5.3 billion pounds) fraud by U.S. regulators and had been representing himself in court matters, has hired a civil attorney in Houston, a court filing showed on Tuesday.

Jacks "J.C." Nickens, from the firm of Nickens, Keeton, Lawless, Farrell & Flack LLP, filed the papers in U.S. District Court in Dallas.

Nickens' firm successfully defended Charles Hurwitz, the embattled chairman of the Maxxam conglomerate, dubbed "Chainsaw Charlie" by environmentalists, in a 10-year legal battle with federal bank regulators after the failure of a Houston savings and loan.

Stanford, two of his top aides and three of his companies are accused by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission of a massive Ponzi scheme involving high-yield certificates of deposit issued by his Antigua bank.

Nickens could not immediately be reached for comment.

Stanford, who has had his assets frozen by a court appointed receiver, previously told the court he could not afford an attorney.

Stanford, a flamboyant sports patron who owns jets, yachts and luxury homes in Texas and the Caribbean, is also in talks with noted criminal attorney Dick DeGuerin.

Stanford said in a recent interview with ABC News that he did not run a Ponzi scheme but expected to soon be indicted on criminal charges.