The FBI has tracked down Sir Allen Stanford - not seen in public since being charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to an alleged $8 billion fraud - to Virginia, according to media reports.

Sir Allen was served with court orders arising from the
SEC civil filing against Stanford Financial Group, the FBI is reported as saying, but was not arrested.

The FBI is also thought to have begun a criminal inquiry, believed to focus on his dealings with investors in Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, part of the Houston-based group that is the object of a separate civil inquiry by the
SEC.

The allegations against Sir Allen come as the financial world is still reeling from the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme fraud operated by US money manager Bernard Madoff, which has hit scores of wealth management firms, banks and investors.