Washington  - The former chief financial officer of Stanford Financial Group pleaded guilty Thursday to aiding a 7-billion-dollar financial fraud allegedly run by his boss, the Texas billionaire Robert Allen Stanford.

James M Davis, 60, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Texas to fraud and obstruction charges, admitting that he mishandled investors' money and lied about the Houston-based company's financial condition, according to the US Justice Department.

Stanford himself was indicted in June, but he has denied wrongdoing and a trial date has not yet been set. The billionaire has spent time in jail awaiting trial but was hospitalized Thursday morning with a rapid heartbeat, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Stanford is accused of managing a scheme similar to the 65- billion-dollar fraud run by New York financier Bernie Madoff. The scheme was allegedly run through the firm's offshore bank, Stanford International Bank Ltd, located on the Caribbean island of Antigua. (dpa)