Refco executive Maggio cooperating in widening inquiry

October 28, 2005
By Kevin Drawbaugh
Reuters, UK

A senior Refco executive who was put on leave earlier this month is cooperating with U.S. authorities in a widening fraud investigation of the futures and commodities broker, a person close to the case said on Thursday.

Santo Maggio, president of the Refco Capital Markets unit, was put on leave by the Refco board on October 10 when it ousted chief executive Phillip Bennett, who has been arrested and charged with hiding $430 million (241 million pounds) of debt from the company and its shareholders.

The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the matter and are fast moving beyond the charges brought against Bennett in his arrest warrant, said sources familiar with the matter...

...Maggio's agreement to cooperate will allow federal investigators to follow a typical pattern of obtaining information from a cooperating executive that can then be used to pressure other executives and build a case, lawyers said.

The original article appears here.

-- MDT

Labels: Department of Justice, Phillip Bennett, Refco