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By Steve McVicker

After an opening week of testimony marked by talk of peanut butter sandwiches and mac and cheese, the Ponzi scheme trial of disgraced financier R. Allen Stanford shifts into high gear this week.

Uncle Sam’s key witness, James Davis, the former chief financial officer at Stanford’s firm — and a former college roommate of the alleged fraudster — is scheduled to take the stand and tell jurors just how the massive fraud was carried out.

Stanford’s alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest such scam after Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion fraud, robbed more than 30,000 people from 113 countries, according to prosecutors.

The 14-count indictment, which carries a prison term of up to 20 years, claims the financier, through his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, lured investors in with high interest rates on CDs.

Prosecutors claim Stanford didn’t buy the CDs but instead used investors’ cash to fuel a lavish lifestyle. Stanford has denied the charges.

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