Inside Stanford's world

Tycoon Allen Stanford lived large, donating his dollars to the world of sports and politics.

Things come big in Texas, and Allen Stanford epitomized it. The fifth-generation Texan lived as large as the fraud charges he now faces. He owns several homes around the Caribbean. He ranked 205th on Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest with estimated wealth exceeding 2 billion dollars.

The flamboyant financier's business empire stretches from this bank in Antigua to the Stanford Financial Group in Houston. He took an insurance firm founded by his grandfather in a small town and grew it into a money management firm boasting 50 billion in assets.

"Sir Allen" as he's referred to on his company's website, aggressively marketed his brand name. He was knighted not by Britain but Antigua.

A graduate of Baylor University, he boasted of blood ties with the founder of Stanford University. False, says the university, although he apparently donated money for the restoration of the Leland Stanford Mansion.

Not content with finance, he tried to build a beachhead in Washington. He bought a policy study firm from Charles Schwab. And the Center for Responsive Politics says he spent nearly 5 million dollars in lobbying. He contributed millions of dollars to politicians like President Barack Obama and John McCain.

Stanford gave to sports stars as well. He sponsors golfer Vijay Singh, who endorses his company. And he's also a big patron of cricket and polo.

But his world has changed, now that regulators have charged him with an 8 billion dollar fraud involving certificates of deposits that promised higher than normal interest rates.

Obama, Senator Bill Nelson and other politicians have vowed to give his donated money to charity. Tennis and cricket groups severed their ties. And when FBI agents found Stanford yesterday, he was in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a modest town that's a far cry from his world of wealth and glamor.

Fred Katayama, Reuters, New York.