Stanford to ABC News: ‘I Would Die . . . if It’s a Ponzi Scheme’

[WSJ_law_blog]

Allen Stanford, accused by the SEC of running an $8 billion Ponzi scheme, has, for the first time since the charges came down, spoken out. He gave ABC News an interview, much of which will be aired on its World News broadcast later Monday evening. Click here for ABC Web story, which includes a lengthy excerpt from the interview.

Among the noteworthy things Stanford says, according to ABC news: that he expects to be indicted by a grand jury in a matter of weeks; that he would “die and go to hell” if his enterprise were a Ponzi scheme, as has been alleged; and that he’s assembling a legal team, including Houston criminal defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin, to fight the indictment he expects soon.

A Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment on the Stanford investigation but a senior official said the case is “moving along rapidly.”