Here we go again. FBI sweeps into cricket boss Sir Allen Stanford’s bank.

Agents are examining the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank (SIB), which has paid investors returns twice as large as conventional banks, after former employees said they witnessed “unethical and illegal practices”.

Learn to look for the numbers. When you see unusually high returns, you need to disbelieve them immediately. When you see extrordinary claims in science, such as high values of significance, or any predictions of large deviations from the norm, immediately become very skeptical.

Flamboyance and controversy are Sir Allen Stanford’s hallmarks. He announced his inaugural Twenty20 cricket tournament by landing at Lord’s in a gold-plated helicopter. After concern from Buckingham Palace, he recently changed a page on his website that said he was knighted by the Earl of Wessex. The honour was in fact bestowed by Antigua’s government.

Also see Climate Predictions are Unpredictable for a roundup of the backlash over climate science fool’s gold.