Ye olde Refco gifte still giving I
The American Lawyer has a long piece focusing on the tribulations and impending trial of Joseph P. Collins, the Mayer Brown partner and long-time Refco crime syndicate outside consigliere now facing an 11-count indictment involving multiple appearances of the word “fraud.”
While not entirely sympathetic, the article does find lots of people to say that Collins was, despite his profession, “morally scrupulous” or similar, and splashes several barrels of whitewash over his alleged role in Refco’s criminality. But about two-thirds of the way through comes the money quote:
Collins denied knowing that Refco used the round-trip loans to conceal fraud...Collins said that he didn’t know at the time why the loans were being done, and that he didn’t ask. He didn’t believe that it was his job to find out...Collins admitted that he knew there was a receivable from affiliate RGHI to Refco, but says he didn't know how big it was.
Ahhhh, the Joy of Ignorance. Funnily enough, former Refco in-house consigliere Dennis Klejna (now keeping his head well below the parapet at MF Global) declined comment. The story does mention that Klejna settled his beef with the company’s creditors for $7.6 million; what it didn’t mention was that the decision was non-recourse to Klejna’s payout from the Phil Bennett lottery. Instead, the creditors agreed to go after Refco’s D&O insurers for the funds.
Noted with interest: Another Mayer Brown partner has been in the criminule news recently: one Catherine Ann Stevens, wife of once and possibly future Senator Ted (R. Alaska). She wrote the checks that prosecutors said, and a jury agreed, fell somewhat short of the actual cost of renovations on their Alaskan home.
by Susan Beck
The American Lawyer Nov. 4 2008
Earlier on NakedShorts
Dec. 19 2007
Comments