As authorities struggle to find both the disappeared Allen Stanford and $50bn of his assets, allegations emerged today that he was being investigated over possible links to a Mexican drugs cartel (David Byers writes).

The claims, made by the US broadcaster ABC, were among a series of revelations emerging in an international press fascinated and amazed in equal measure by investigations into the Texan cricket impresario.

According to the ABC report, Mexican authorities’ investigation, carried out in coordination with the FBI, led to one of Mr Stanford’s private planes being detained after cheques allegedly discovered inside suggested he may have been laundering money for the Gulf cartel, which is regarded as Mexico’s most violent and dangerous drugs gang.

The report suggests that, while the Mexican investigation was ongoing, Stanford continued to live an extravagant public life, including financing a party put on by the National Democratic Institute at which he was pictured being hugged by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, and praised by former President Bill Clinton.

The pictures of Democrats’ embraces – and the fact that Stanford is reported to have given the majority of his sizeable political donations to the Democrats – are sure to lead to a few red-faces within the party of newly elected President Obama who will, like the England and Wales Cricket Board, no doubt wonder about how effective the party’s checks were on the Texan multi-billionaire’s finances before accepting his money.

Newspapers, news websites and broadcasters throughout the Americas were today stunned by the audacity of the fraud, which has left investors in Mr Stanford’s banks, in particular in Latin America, queuing round the block to withdraw their cash.

The New York Times focused on the phenomenon of Venezuela, where it says Mr Stanford saw potential rich pickings as a large number of affluent residents – nervous about Hugo Chavez’s nationalisation programme – were seeking to shift their money overseas. 

Bloomberg focused on the potential impact of the fraud on the sports he sponsored, which - unlike football and American Football - were among the poorer relations in the business. These include golf, tennis and cricket who, it is claimed, may lose in excess of $100 million in backing because of the alleged fraud.

The Financial Times noted that at least $400,000 of the bank’s assets had been exposed to Bernard Madoff, the US broker-dealer accused of perpetrating an alleged $50bn Ponzi scheme.

Meanwhile, The Guardian focused on the potential financial catastrophe facing Antigua, where Mr Stanford was the country’s largest investor.