ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (November 2, 2009)--The panel awards that approves candidates for knighthood in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda has voted to rescind the honor granted to indicted Central Texas financier R. Allen Stanford in 2006.

The chairwoman of the National Honors Committee said the panel voted unanimously to revoke Stanford's title.

Jacqui Quinn-Leandro Quinn-Leandro said Monday the panel took the action because of the embarrassment Stanford caused the country with the alleged Ponzi scheme he ran from his Antigua-based offshore bank.

The vote needs the signature of the governor general but that is considered a formality.

The country has never before revoked such an award.

U.S. authorities accuse Stanford, who’s a native of Mexia and a Baylor University graduate, of being the architect of a $7 billion Ponzi scheme that promised inflated returns to about 28,000 investors on certificates of deposits at his Antiguan bank.

Stanford denies the allegations.