R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire accused of masterminding an $8 billion Ponzi scheme, said “I’m not a damn swindler” in an interview in Houston.

Stanford was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accuses him and others of running a “massive ongoing fraud”involving high-yield CDs through Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.

The SEC claims Stanford allegedly skimmed $1.6 billion in personal loans from his Stanford Financial Group of companies.They also claim he invested billions of depositor funds in inappropriate real estate and private-equity ventures and not in conservative, liquid assets that he said backed the CDs.

Stanford hasn’t be charged with criminal wrongdoing.