Controversial cricket tycoon Sir Allen Stanford has been indicted on 21 charges in relation to a £4.8 billion pyramid scheme.

Stanford - the man behind last year's lucrative Twenty20 cricket contest between England and a team of West Indian all-stars - was charged in February by regulators in the US.

The flamboyant 59-year-old financier is at a federal court in Virginia where he and associates are accused of the fraud allegedly orchestrated through Stanford's Antigua bank.

Stanford, who surrendered to FBI agents outside his girlfriend's house in Virginia late on Thursday, already faces civil charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

He and other top executives at his Stanford Financial Group allegedly conducted a pyramid, or ponzi, scheme involving certificates of deposit which promised investors "improbable and unsubstantiated" high returns.

It is claimed that Stanford and his firms "misrepresented" to clients that their money was secure - falsely claiming the bank reinvested client funds primarily in "liquid" financial instruments and was monitored by a team of 20-plus analysts.

His case is the first major financial crimes prosecution brought under the administration of President Barack Obama, who has vowed to crack down on economic malfeasance.

Stanford holds dual US and Antigua and Barbuda citizenship. He denies any wrongdoing and has previously said he would put up "the fight of my life" if indicted.

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