A federal appeals court has ruled that financier R. Allen Stanford must stay in jail until his Texas trial on fraud charges.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a lower-court ruling Monday that revoked Stanford's bond on the grounds that he is a flight risk.

The judges wrote that Stanford "has the means, the motive, and the money to flee."

Stanford's attorneys had argued that the 59-year-old was not a flight risk, citing his family ties in Houston.

Stanford and four executives of his now defunct Stanford Financial Group are accused in a criminal indictment in Houston of orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme. Investigators said Stanford secretly diverted more than $1.6 billion in investor funds to himself as personal loans.

- AP