Billionaire Allen Stanford is back in Texas today to face federal charges that he ran a US$7bn (€4.95bn) scheme to defraud investors with his international banking empire.

Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, chairman of the troubled Stanford Financial Group, is to appear in court today on fraud charges after surrendering to FBI agents, officials said.

The US government is asking a judge for permission to go after at least $226.6m (€174.4m) in back taxes, penalties and interest it says are owed by Sir Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire accused of conducting an €6.1bn investment fraud through an offshore bank.

A US judge ruled today that thousands of investor accounts with Texan billionaire Allen Stanford’s financial companies would remain frozen for another 10 days.