MORE than £60m of funds believed to be connected to cricket entrepreneur Sir Allen Stanford’s alleged investment fraud have been seized in UK banks, it was revealed today.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it had frozen the assets held by 'certain London financial institutions' earlier this year after a request by the US Department of Justice.

The 59-year-old billionaire is currently on bail awaiting trial for the suspected  £4.2bn investment fraud. The SFO froze the funds in April after obtaining a restraining order that will see the cash held pending the outcome of the proceedings in the US.

There had been speculation that Stanford was poised to launch a UK arm of his global financial empire just months before he was charged with masterminding a massive 'ponzi' scheme.

Stanford last week pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Three other executives at Stanford Financial Group - Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilberto Lopez and Mark Kuhrt - have also been charged over the alleged fraud. All have denied the charges.

According to the indictment, Stanford and his co-defendants concocted a scam in which investors were sold so-called certificates of deposits (CDs) after being lured by promises of high returns.

It is alleged that Stanford misrepresented to investors that their money was safe, falsely claiming that funds were being re-invested in liquid financial instruments and monitored by a team of 20-plus analysts.

Instead, Stanford and his co-accused misused and misappropriated the funds, it is claimed.