Former Refco CEO Released From Jail on $50M Bond
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NEW YORK (AP) -- The ousted CEO of commodities brokerage Refco Inc. has been released from jail on a $50 million bond following his arrest for alleged securities fraud.
Authorities say Phillip R. Bennett, of Gladstone, N.J. concealed as much as $545 million in bad debts from federal regulators and investors. Bennett was arrested Tuesday night and released a day later. He was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.
On Monday, Refco announced that $430 million in debts to the company, funneled through a firm controlled by the ousted chairman and chief executive, was hidden through a number of secret transfers to disguise that much of the debt may have been uncollectable.
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Esseks fought bail, calling Bennett a flight risk, a British citizen with a half billion dollars in assets who told a colleague in a tape conversation Monday that he was going to Europe within two days.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton granted bail, saying he could go free Wednesday after pledging a Manhattan apartment and his New Jersey home as collateral and agreeing to electronic monitoring, a $50 million bond with $5 million in cash.
Esseks said prosecutors had developed a "straightforward and truly extraordinary case" that involved a "staggering" loss of money for investors.
But defense attorney Gary P. Naftalis said "there's no case here." He said his client had already pledged his shares in Refco to secure a bank loan that repaid the $430 million loan with interest on Monday.
"He received no personal profits from this," Naftalis said.
The lawyer said prosecutors rushed their case. He noted that Esseks acknowledged he did not know Bennett had pledged all of his Refco stock to secure the loan.
"I think they jumped the gun," Naftalis said.
Garcia said the failure to disclose "an incredibly important fact" came as the public invested hundreds of millions of dollars in August when Refco, the largest retail commodities broker dealer in the nation, issued stock in an initial public offering.
On Monday, Refco said its earnings statements dating back to 2002 "should no longer be relied upon," and will delay filing its next quarterly report, originally scheduled for next week.
Bennett, 57, was put on leave that day by Refco's board, and Chief Operating Officer William Sexton, who was due to retire, was tapped as the new CEO.
The criminal charge accused Bennett of hiding the existence of hundreds of millions of dollars of related party transactions between Refco and a company controlled by Bennett from investors from 2004 until this month. Garcia said the amount which was hidden fluctuated, but rose as high as $545 million at one point.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Bennett used a New Jersey hedge fund, Liberty Corner Capital, to hide the debts from regulators and the company's auditors. The moves made the debts appear to be receivable, which inflated Refco's revenue on its balance sheet.
Liberty Corner executive Terry Pigott did not return calls from The Associated Press to his office and home. He told the Journal he was not involved in Refco's problems.
Because Bennett allegedly hid bad debt in a separate company and caused Refco's revenue figures to be higher than they actually were, federal prosecutors accused Bennett of causing Refco to file a false and fraudulent registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Tuesday, the New York-based Refco said it had voluntarily contacted the SEC, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the New York Stock Exchange and other regulators, and was cooperating with their inquiries. Garcia said the cooperation by Refco allowed prosecutors to act more swiftly than otherwise might be possible.
The company has some 2,400 employees in 14 countries. It reported earnings of $176.3 million for the fiscal year ended last February, down from $187.2 million a year earlier.
When the transactions were disclosed to the public, the stock price plummeted, causing investors to lose more than $1 billion, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector Heather Tucci said in the complaint.
The company is also facing a potential class action suit from investors who bought Refco stock since its initial public offering on Aug. 11.
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now aint that some shit?
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