Stanford in transit to Houston for hearing

By Anna Driver

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Allen Stanford, who was arrested in Virginia on fraud charges last week, is in transit back to Texas for a detention hearing in federal court, his lawyer's office and a federal official said on Monday.

Stanford, who is in federal custody, is expected to be delivered to Houston tomorrow, said a U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Marshals office has not told Stanford's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, if his client is being transported by airplane, bus or car for security reasons, an assistant to DeGuerin said.

KTRK television in Houston, citing unnamed federal officials, said Stanford was put on a plane to Oklahoma City, where he will spend the night.

A spokesman for the U.S. Marshal's office in Houston could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Texas billionaire, who is more accustomed to flying on private jets, was arrested on Thursday at his girlfriend's house in Virginia after a grand jury in Houston indicted him and four others on fraud, conspiracy and obstruction charges related to an alleged $7 billion (4.3 billion pounds) scam.

On Friday, a federal judge in Richmond ordered Stanford held in custody ahead of a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Houston, where the criminal charges were filed.

Stanford is accused by the U.S. prosecutors of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme where investors in certificates of deposit sold by the financier's Antigua bank were paid off with funds from more recent investors.