Billionaire Allen Stanford Rushed from Jail to Hospital
Financier, accused of $7mil Ponzi scheme, hasn't paid attorney.
August 27, 2009— -- Disgraced billionaire financier 'Sir' Allen Stanford, who is behind bars awaiting trial on charges stemming from an alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme, was taken by ambulance to a Texas hospital early this morning with a rapid heart rate of 300 beats per minutes, his attorney told ABCNews.com.
Stanford was set to appear in court today for a hearing on replacing his attorney, Dick DeGuerin, who has asked the court to recuse him from the case because he says he's been paid "zero, zip" and Stanford wants him out.
"I've been getting a lot of interference from other lawyers that are trying to horn in on the case," DeGuerin told ABCNews.com. "To the extent that they've undermined the confidence that Stanford had in me, the other lawyers I don't think have his best interests at heart and it's a shame."
DeGuerin said Stanford was taken from the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, TX to the nearby Conroe Regional Medical Center at 5:30am Thursday. Stanford's attorney has previously requested he be transferred from the jail because his cell is too crowded and lacks air conditioning.
"The conditions are awful, but in addition to that," DeGuerin said, "it's impossible to prepare a case like this with the amount of evidence and documents and complexity that it has with him being behind bars and unable to participate in the preparation of his own case."
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