Posts Tagged ‘bankruptcy’

Oh 'dem Red Bones

Monday, August 27th, 2007

The mother of all lawsuits was filed against the usual Refco defendants last week by Marc S. Kirschner, trustee of the Refco Litigation Trust. The suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., slams the usual suspects: Phillip R. Bennett, Santo C. Maggio , Robert C. Trosten and Tone N. Grant, but then also accuses other firms and individuals of basically aiding and abetting the schemes that led to the Refco bankrupcy.

In the 158-page suit, the trustee alleges that “the defendants include a “who’s who” of some of the biggest names in corporate finance, law, and accounting, whose reputations and substantial assistance were required for Bennett, Maggio, Trosten and Grant (the “Refco Insiders”) to strip out billions of dollars in Refco assets. Bennett and other Refco Insiders face criminal charges for their misconduct. The trustee brings this action to recover from the Refco Insiders and those who knowingly assisted them in stripping out Refco’s assets, causing billions of dollars in damage to the Company and its creditors.” See the full lawsuit here.

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Sentinel under the scope

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007

The Securities and Exchange Commission continued its volley on Sentinel Management Group, as the firm awaits a bankruptcy trustee to be named Aug. 23. In filing a Temporary Restraining order on Sentinel, Lou Gracia, assistant regional director for the SEC notes in his declaration that the SEC went into the Sentinel offices Aug. 15 — a day after Sentinel’s halt on redemptions was reported in the press — and met with Sentinel President Eric Bloom, CFO Theresa Arana and the chief compliance office J. Matthew Keel. Although Sentinel told clients that the reason for the the redemption freeze was the market volatility, Gracia notes “This explanation is false and misleading. As described below, the clients’ exposure to loss was exacerbated by the undisclosed use of leverage and apparent commingling and misappropriation of clients’ securities. At the time the August 13 letter was sent to clients, the securities reported on account statements provided to clients bore no relation to the actual securities held for clients as reflected in their custodial account records.”Download file

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