A US federal judge has ruled that jailed former financier Allen Stanford is unfit to stand trial at this time, on charges of running a $7bn fraud operation from his Caribbean base in Antigua.
The 60-year-old was arrested in the United States in 2009 and indicted on 21 counts, including securities fraud and money laundering.
Mr Stanford sustained a brain injury in an incident with another inmate while in jail in Texas in 2009.
Since then he has been prescribed anti-anxiety medication to which he has become addicted.
'The court finds Stanford is incompetent to stand trial at this time based on his apparent impaired ability to rationally assist his attorneys in preparing his defense,' US District Judge David Hittner wrote in his ruling in Houston, Texas.
'The court's finding that Stanford is incompetent, however, does not alter the court's finding that Stanford is a flight risk.'
The judge also recommended that Stanford be sent to a medical facility within the US Bureau of Prisons, namely citing the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, where Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff is currently serving a 150-year term for defrauding investors of $20bn.
