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Venezuelans had invested between $2.3 billion and $3 billion in the offshore bank, Stanford Bank SA, before Venezuela's government seized temporary control after panicked withdrawals on news of U.S. fraud charges against Allen Stanford.

02/25/09 - (AP) - CARACAS, Venezuela: A Venezuelan court has frozen the assets of board members who headed a bank controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Venezuela's government last week seized temporary control of Stanford Bank SA after panicked withdrawals on news of U.S. fraud charges against Stanford and three of his companies.

Though part of the Texas billionaire's Antigua-based empire, the Venezuelan bank is not named in the fraud complaint by U.S. regulators.

The court in Caracas blocked bank accounts of the eight board members and put a hold on their property at the request of a special prosecutor leading an investigation in Venezuela. A court last week barred the outgoing board members from leaving the country.

One board member reached by The Associated Press declined to comment, saying authorities who are overseeing the government's intervention in the bank have forbidden them from speaking to the news media.

The board members include a former Cabinet minister under former President Carlos Andres Perez, a university professor and other businesspeople. It was unclear whether their other businesses could be affected by the order.

Venezuela's government hopes to appraise the value of Stanford Bank SA within two weeks to put it up for sale, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said Wednesday.

Venezuelan banking officials are studying the bank's finances to "establish how much the bank is worth to proceed to an auction," Rodriguez said in an interview with the Venezuelan television channel Televen.

"We hope it doesn't take more than 15 days" to finish evaluating the bank's finances and proceed to a sale, said Rodriguez, who oversees the banking sector.

He reiterated, without mentioning names, that some have expressed interest in buying the bank. Rodriguez said the buyer would assume debts as well as shares.

It was unclear what would be done with the proceeds of a sale.

Clients who made a run on the bank last week withdrew an estimated $93 million, or 36.8 percent of its deposits, in Venezuelan currency.

Although the bank is now under the administrative control of President Hugo Chavez's government, the Texas financier remains its main shareholder — and his assets in the United States have been frozen by U.S. regulators.

U.S. authorities have accused Stanford of leading a fraud scheme involving billions of dollars, in part through Stanford International Bank in Antigua and Barbuda.

Venezuelans seeking a safer haven for their dollars were important customers of that Antigua bank. Venezuela's banking superintendent, Edgar Hernandez Behrens, said Venezuelans had invested between $2.3 billion and $3 billion in the offshore bank.