Stanford Group Exec Arrested

HOUSTON (AP) _ The chief investment officer of troubled Stanford Financial Group was due in federal court Friday after being arrested in Houston where the company is based.

Laura Pendergest-Holt is accused of obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of an alleged $8 billion investment fraud involving Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford. Stanford is accused in civil charges of lying about the safety of investments he sold as “certificates of deposit” and promising unrealistically high rates of return.

Pendergest-Holt’s attorney, Brent Baker, says his client is looking forward to working with the government to get all the facts out.

The government alleges that Pendergest-Holt obstructed the investigation and allegedly failed to tell the SEC how much she knew about investments in Stanford International Bank Ltd.