Stanford may have been drug informant

British newspapers and the BBC are reporting that Allen Stanford may have avoided scrutiny of his bank in Antigua because he was a drug informant for American anti-drug agents. Stanford's assets have been frozen as part of an investigation into an alleged $8 billion fraud related to the sale of CDs.

The Independent of Britain wrote that Stanford's status as a confidential informant may have given Stanford some protection from financial regulators. The connection could explain why a 2006 SEC investigation of his bank was dropped on the request of another government agency.