The chief financial officer of Stanford Financial Group, James Davis, is cooperating in fraud investigations of the group, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing Davis' lawyer.

Davis' cooperation in the federal criminal and civil fraud investigations may help investigators who have struggled to get information from billionaire Texan financier Allen Stanford, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

The move marks a turnaround for Davis who, along with Stanford, had earlier asserted his constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination.

U.S. regulators have accused Stanford and his top aide Davis of running a massive Ponzi scheme involving high-yield certificates of deposit (CDs) issued by Stanford's offshore bank in Antigua.

Davis' attorney, David Finn, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Gary Hill)