US seeks names of Stanford account holders

The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seeking the names of US taxpayers who have foreign accounts with companies owned by indicted Texas billionaire Sir Allen Stanford.



The IRS has also asked a US federal judge to order the court-appointed receiver, Ralph Janvey, who is now running Stanford\'s companies, to identify American investors who held foreign accounts between 2002 and 2008.



IRS agent Daniel Reeves said the agency has evidence suggesting that some of Stanford’s investors were underreporting their income or evading taxes.



The US government has accused Stanford of running a US$7 billion Ponzi scheme involving his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.