Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford, accused of a $8 billion fraud, has apparently done a bunk:

U.S. regulators don’t know the whereabouts of R. Allen Stanford, the billionaire accused of running a “massive, ongoing fraud” through his Houston-based Stanford Group Co., a Securities and Exchange Commission official said.

“We don’t know where he is, quite frankly,” said Rose Romero, director of the SEC’s office in Fort Worth, Texas.

The SEC yesterday filed a civil lawsuit against Stanford, companies he controls and two colleagues, claiming they misled investors while selling $8 billion in certificates from an affiliated bank in Antigua. He hasn’t been criminally charged, a step that could restrict his movements.

Shouldn’t someone have been watching this dude? Shouldn’t someone have arrested him?

MSNBC adds:

The head of Stanford Financial Group charged with orchestrating an $8 billion fraud tried Tuesday to get a one-way flight out of the country, a source told CNBC.

R. Allen Stanford tried to arrange the direct flight to Antigua, where his offshore banking operations are based.

He contacted a private jet owner at 3 pm and attempted to pay for the flight with a credit card, but was refused because the company would only accept a wire transfer, a source in the private jet industry said. Stanford had asked to leave by 6 pm.

Presumably, he rustled up some cash and tried again with a different company. Or maybe he arranged a wire transfer from a non-frozen bank account.

What sense did it make to file a civil lawsuit and do nothing to arrest him or take his passport(s) away? Wasn’t that just an open invitation telling him to disappear while he still had the chance?