WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) — The US Justice Department asked for a court order allowing it to get the names of investors who held offshore accounts from the business records of indicted Texas financier R. Allen Stanford.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Stanford, two associates and three of his businesses in February, alleging they perpetrated a $7 billion fraud scheme involving the sale of certificates of deposit through Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd.

In a petition filed yesterday in US District Court in Dallas, Justice Department attorneys acting on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service asked the court to issue a summons to Ralph Janvey, the Dallas lawyer appointed to run Stanford's businesses after the SEC sued.

The IRS is investigating Stanford clients as part of its "Offshore Compliance Initiative," according to the Justice Department petition filed with the court.

"The IRS has evidence volunteered from a US taxpayer that account statements and form 1099s from Stanford-controlled entities did not include interest or income generated from SIB accounts or certificates of deposit," the department said yesterday.