Buyers trying to recover their deposits on an unfinished luxury resort have been shocked to learn a backer is under investigation by the SEC.

A financial backer of the company developing the Tierra Del Sol resort in Florida is R. Allen Stanford, the Texas financier whom the Securities and Exchange Commission accused in civil charges of an $8bn fraud. Last year, one of Stanford's companies provided a $17.5m loan to the developer of the resort.

The SEC's allegations aren't related to Stanford's role as a backer of American Leisure Group Ltd., the company developing the Florida resort. But the SEC has frozen assets of three of Stanford's companies, including Stanford International Bank.

Wall Street Journal