Ex-Stanford CFO granted bail

By Anna Driver

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former Stanford International Bank Chief Financial Officer James Davis was granted $500,000 (308,000 pound) bail on Monday and plans to plead guilty to charges related to an alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme as early as next week, his lawyer said.

Davis, who has been cooperating with federal prosecutors for three months, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison on the conspiracy, fraud and obstruction charges. The government says the swindle was led by Texas billionaire Allen Stanford.

Davis, 60, pleaded not guilty to a three-count criminal information in the federal courtroom in Houston, but he plans to change his plea to guilty, David Finn, Davis' lawyer told U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley during a bond hearing.

Botley set Davis' bail at $500,000, with a $5,000 cash deposit. The former executive was also asked by the judge to surrender his passport and stick close to his home in Baldwyn, Mississippi.

Davis' cooperation with the government sets up a bitter court fight with Stanford, his former college roommate at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

In media interviews given before his arrest on June 18, Stanford implied that Davis was responsible for the fraud that centres on certificates of deposit (CDs) issued by Stanford's offshore bank in Antigua, a notion that Davis' attorney disputes.

"This thing was smoke and mirrors and duct tape for at least the last 15 years," Finn said about the offshore bank.

Davis, who has already signed a plea deal with prosecutors, is likely to appear before U.S. District Judge David Hittner on July 21 to enter his plea, Finn said.