WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI said Thursday its agents found Texas billionaire Allen Stanford in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, area and served him with court papers accusing him of massive fraud.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the Federal Bureau of Investigation acted at the request of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and that Stanford, whose whereabouts had been unknown for the past few days, had not been arrested.
Kolko said he did not know whether Stanford had surrendered his passport.
The SEC's complaint, accusing Stanford of an $8 billion fraud, was served by agents from the FBI's office in Richmond, Virginia, Kolko said.
"The agents served Mr. Stanford with court orders related to the SEC civil filing against the Stanford Financial Group," Kolko said.
Stanford and three of his companies were charged with fraud in a civil complaint filed in federal court in Dallas, Texas.
Stanford and two other executives were accused of fraudulently selling $8 billion in high-yield certificates of deposit in a scheme that stretched around the world. (Reporting by James Vicini, Editing by Toni Reinhold)