MIAMI, (Reuters) – U.S. federal authorities are  investigating millions of dollars contributed by accused  fraudster Allen Stanford and his staff to U.S. lawmakers over  the past decade, the Miami Herald reported yesterday.

The newspaper said the Justice Department investigation  aimed to determine whether the banker received special favours  from politicians while he was operating his alleged $7 billion  Ponzi scheme centred on fraudulent certificates of deposit  issued by his offshore bank in Antigua and Barbuda.

The Miami Herald said an email sent to Stanford by Texas  Republican Representative Pete Sessions on the day authorities  announced fraud charges against the billionaire financier, as  well as $2.3 million in contributions he made to Sessions and  other U.S. lawmakers, were “part of the government’s inquiry.”

It said Stanford, who has pleaded not guilty and is  awaiting a trial set for January 2011, also spent $5 million on  lobbying since 2001, and successfully lobbied in 2001 to kill a  bill that would have exposed the flow of millions into his  secretive offshore bank on the Caribbean island of Antigua.

The following year he helped block legislation that would  have led to more government scrutiny of his now disgraced  Antigua bank, the newspaper said.

Stanford, 59, has been in custody since June 19, when he  was indicted on 21 criminal charges related to his alleged  fraud. His global banking and securities business was shut down  in February when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission  filed civil charges that he and others had committed fraud.

The Miami Herald said that on the day federal agents raided  Stanford’s offices in the United States, Feb. 17, the financier  received an email message from Sessions, the chairman of the  National Republican Congressional Committee.

The newspaper said the message was found on Stanford’s  computer servers and reads: “I love you and believe in you,”.  “If you want my ear/voice — e-mail,” the Miami Herald quoted  the message as saying, adding it was signed “Pete.”

Sessions did not respond to requests for interviews and his  press secretary said she had not seen the email and so could  not comment on it, the newspaper said.

It said Stanford also funded Caribbean trips for a group of  U.S. lawmakers known as the Caribbean Caucus, including  Sessions and Democrats Gregory Meeks of New York and Donald  Payne of New Jersey.

The newspaper said most of the members of Congress  contacted it contacted about their ties to Stanford declined to  discuss them, other than to say they had returned the  contributions.

Prosecutors say Stanford paid tens of thousands of dollars  in bribes for years to a top financial regulator in Antigua and  Barbuda to shield his Ponzi scheme from U.S. investigators.