Texan tycoon Allen Stanford has vowed to fight allegations that he was involved in a multi-billion dollar fraud.

He has claimed he is a victim of government persecution.

The cricket entrepreneur, who in February was charged with frauds totalling 9.2 billion dollars (£6.2bn) by regulators in the US, also denied that he had been involved in a Bernard Madoff-style "Ponzi" scheme.

And the billionaire businessman dismissed reports that he was involved in laundering drug money as "absolutely ludicrous".

Stanford was silent till now

Stanford has maintained a wall of silence since charges were laid by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), but was tracked down by ABC News at a restaurant in Houston.

According to the regulator, Stanford is guilty of fraud "of a shocking magnitude" relating to an 8 billion-dollar (£5.4 billion) certificate of deposit (CD) scheme and a separate 1.2 billion-dollar (£815 million) investment vehicle.

It followed a probe into Stanford and his firms, Stanford International Bank (SIB), Stanford Group Company and Stanford Capitol Management.

"Government failed in their oversight"

But asked why the authorities were chasing him so hard, Stanford said: "I think the Government failed in their oversight, and I'm the maverick rich Texan where they can put the moose head on the wall."

He dismissed allegations that he had been running a "Ponzi" scheme as "baloney", adding: "It's not a Ponzi scheme.

"I would die and go to hell if it's a Ponzi scheme, it's no Ponzi scheme.

"If it was a Ponzi scheme, why are they finding billions and billions of dollars all over the place?"

"I am going to fight hard"

Growing more emotional, Stanford said: "I've worked my life, I've given everything I've had, I love my employees. I care for everybody in this company that I have. I'm going to fight this with everything in me."

And asked about the allegations of drug-money laundering, Stanford said he would punch anyone who put the suggestion to him again.

"It's an absolutely ludicrous thing to say," he said.

Stanford - the man behind last year's million-dollar-a-man, winner-takes-all Twenty20 cricket contest between England and a team of West Indian all-stars - is facing charges filed in a civil court.

Stanford's assets have been frozen

As such he has not been arrested and is not in custody. But he has had his assets frozen and been placed under a temporary restraining order.

The regulator alleges that the fraud centres on an 8 billion dollar (£5.4 billion) certificates of deposit (CDs) scheme, which promised "improbable and unsubstantiated" high returns.

It is claimed that Stanford and his firms "misrepresented" to investors that their money was secure, falsely claiming the bank reinvested client funds primarily in "liquid" financial instruments and was monitored by a team of 20-plus analysts.

The SEC also claims SIB falsely told investors it had no "direct or indirect" exposure to Madoff's massive pyramid scheme.

A complaint concerning a 1.2 billion-dollar (£851 million) mutual wrap platform has also been filed. The SEC says the investment vehicle was sold to investors using false historical performance records.