Leroy King was detained on a provisional warrant requested by U.S. authorities pending a formal extradition bid by the United States, the Caribbean nation's Director of Public Prosecutions Anthony Armstrong told Reuters.

"He is currently being held at the police station in the capital, St. John's," Armstrong said by telephone.

King was sacked last week by the government as head of Antigua and Barbuda's Financial Services Regulatory Commission after U.S. federal authorities announced criminal charges against him of fraud, conspiracy, obstructing justice and conspiracy to launder money.

King was named in the criminal indictment against Stanford and several of his financial group executives over what U.S. investigators said was a "massive Ponzi scheme."

Stanford appeared in a Houston court on Thursday.

Armstrong said U.S. authorities would have 45 days to formally proceed with an extradition case against King, a period that could be extended to 60 days.

Antigua and Barbuda was at the heart of Stanford's business empire stretching from the Caribbean to the United States, Latin America and Europe.

Antigua's biggest bank, Stanford International Bank Ltd, sold certificates of deposit that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says bilked thousands of investors out of billions of dollars.

U.S. authorities allege King received "thousands of dollars in bribes" from Stanford to ensure the Antigua regulatory authority "looked the other way" and conducted sham audits of Stanford's operations.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said King, acting as gamekeeper turned poacher, helped Stanford and his associates evade and obstruct U.S. probes of the Stanford business empire for several years.

Officials say Antigua and Barbuda's image as an offshore finance destination has been damaged by the scandal surrounding Stanford, a flamboyant sports entrepreneur known as "Sir Allen" locally after he was granted a knighthood by the government.

The Caribbean nation says it is investigating other offshore companies to ensure the corruption "cancer" associated with the Stanford case has not spread.

(Editing by John O'Callaghan)