Cricket mogul Stanford's fraud trial set for September

Stanford was sent to a US prison hospital for drug addiction treatment in February after a judge ruled he was temporarily unfit to stand trial.

Government psychiatrists and Stanford's legal team testified that he was suffering from bouts of delirium linked to his dependency on powerful anti-anxiety medication.
They found the 60-year-old was also depressed due to a brain injury he sustained during a 2009 jailhouse brawl, and recommended he be weaned off the drug.

The flamboyant Texan has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen counts of fraud, money laundering and obstruction. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. The trial is set to begin September 12.

A self-described "maverick," Stanford hit international sports headlines by creating the eponymous Stanford Super Series Twenty20 cricket competition.

The USD 20-million winner-take-all match appalled many in the cricket world by challenging the sacrosanct traditional cricket establishment.

In Antigua, he was a larger-than-life figure, the island's largest employer and the recipient of a 2006 knighthood. But after the allegations against him surfaced, much of his support dwindled and the England and Wales Cricket Board cut ties with him.
Stanford launched a USD 7.2 billion countersuit in February against federal agents alleging violations of his civil rights and illegal prosecution.

The complaint says the agents "undertook illegal tactics" including a civil prosecution by the US Securities and Exchange Commission "which was calculated to seize all his corporate and personal records, conduct a criminal investigation... and at the same time, seize and take all of Mr. Stanford's personal assets" to impair his defense.