In an article written by Matthew Goldstein in TheStreet.com he states:
In three short days, Phillip Bennett, the ousted CEO of embattled brokerage Refco(RFX – Cramer’s Take – Stockpickr), has gone from Master of the Universe to criminal defendant in a fraud that has stunned Wall Street and ravaged the company’s stock.
With lightning speed, federal prosecutors arrested Bennett and charged him Wednesday with orchestrating a brazen scheme to paper over hundreds of millions of dollars in sour debts at the New York company, which sold a $583 million initial offering to the public just two months ago.
Refco was a New York-based financial services company, primarily known as a broker of commodities and futures contracts. It was founded in 1969 as “Ray E. Friedman and Co.” Prior to its collapse in October, 2005, the firm had over $4 billion in approximately 200,000 customer accounts, and it was the largest broker on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The firm’s balance sheet at the time of the collapse showed about $75 billion in assets and a roughly equal amount in liabilities. Though these filings have since been disowned by the company, they are probably roughly accurate in showing the firm’s level of leverage.
Refco became a public company on August 11, 2005 with the sale of 26.5 million shares to the public at $22. It closed the day over 25% higher than that, valuing the entire company at about $3.5 billion. Investors had been attracted to Refco’s history of profit growth — it had reported 33% average annual gains in earnings over the four years prior to its initial public offering.
Well, those comments were made some three years ago in 2005. On April 17, 2008 Tone N. Grant, one of the former owners of Refco, Inc., was convicted on charges relating to a massive, $2.4 billion scheme to defraud investors. Instead of pleading guilty he rolled the dice and lost.
From as early as the mid-1990s, Refco, which was then privately held and owned in part by GRANT and PHILLIP R. BENNETT, sustained hundreds of millions of dollars of losses through its own and its customers’ trading. In order to hide the existence of those losses, GRANT and BENNETT transferred many of them to appear as a debt owed to Refco by Refco Group Holdings, Inc. (RGHI), the holding company that controlled Refco and was in turn controlled in part by Bennett and GRANT.
Former CEO Phillip Bennett, of Gladstone, N.J., and former chief financial officer, Robert Trosten, of Sarasota, Fla., both pleaded guilty in February and await sentencing. Grant’s sentencing is scheduled for August 8, 2008.
Comments:
Bennett took the most logical route – he accepted responsibility and accountability for his actions. His comments are as follows:
“I knew failing to disclose these filings was wrong,” Bennett told the New York court as he cried. “I know I was wrong. I deeply regret it.”
He added: “I take full responsibility for my actions and would like to apologise to my family and all those who were harmed by my conduct.”
Now do not mistake responsibility and accountability for no consequences. As a business ethics and white collar crime speaker, I know (from personal experience) and say often: Every choice has a consequence. We cannot avoid the consequences. However, if you wish to minimize the consequences then taking responsibility for one’s actions is a great first step.
Bennett will be sentenced to federal prison and, my guess is, for a substantial period of time. But, he did make it easy for the government to get their conviction and for that ease, they will likely bargain somewhat on the prison sentence.
On the other hand, Grant took the more difficult path and went for a jury trial. Now, from time to time, I wonder what goes through someone’s head when they do that. First, if the government goes after you they intend to win and, looking at the track record, they usually do. It’s like playing the tables in Vegas with your life when you go to trial. The cards are stacked against you.
Grant played his hand and, as one could have predicted, lost! His sentence? Well, that’s to come, but I bet that it has the potential for being greater than Bennett’s – although since Bennett was former chairman and CEO – who knows.
Next step…lets see what happens at sentencing. The sentence these two receive will send a message to white collar criminals in two ways: (1) just how tough is the court on fraud of this nature, and (2) is there any actual value in pleading vs. going to trial? Time will tell…
White collar crime speaker – Chuck Gallagher – signing off…
Motivational Speaker - Chuck Gallagher Business Ethics and Choices Expert 
I hope God will help him.TONE GRANT IS A GREAT MAN!!!
thank u he is my grandfather i miss him
Yes he is a great man
Tone Grant helped Refco become a truly international and professional futures commission merchant. Tone was a disciplinarian but fair with employees. Refco was a Chicago firm and he maintained his office in Chicago while Bennett ran affairs from NY. The article about his request for a jury trial was rather simplistic…after all, Tone was likely not involved in the recurring fraudulent transactions being planned and executed by Bennett and his cronies.
In fact, jurors in Tone’s trial stated they did not believe Bennett nor his accomplices…but rather a note handwritten by Grant indicating the amount of the loss being hidden…was the “smoking gun.” Why would Grant have jotted down this figure if he were instrumental in planning and orchestrating the fraud? It’s more likely that he jotted the figure down because that was when he became aware of the loss!
Tone was guilty of not bringing the whole affair out in the open immediately. But then, it’s quite a difficult decision to see everything you worked for go down in shambles due to a fraud committed by others. Was Bennett et al planning to hide the loss forever? Or is it possible that the plan was to pay off the loss through future profits?
Tone Grant was a good leader and made Refco a great company to work at….unfortunately, Bennett not only brought down Refco but Grant as well.
I don’t remember Richard at Refco but he speaks as though the knows Phil and Tone quite well. I worked for them both for a long, long time and to be honest i always found Tone a little malleable, not at all a disciplinarian but rather a soft touch and easily brought round to a point of view. It’s my guess that Phil found it very easy to take control and misguide Tone. I’m trying not to infer that Tone was stupid, he is a lovely man but it’s a pity he is doing time because i doubt he fully knew what was going on. I truly hope that Tone gets released early, i am 100% sure he doesn’t deserve to be where he is.
thank u he is my grandpa i miss him
[…] Refco Fraud – Former President Tone N. Grant – GUILTY! WhiteWell, those comments were made some three years ago in 2005. On April 17, 2008 Tone N. Grant, one of the former owners of Refco, Inc., was convicted on charges relating to a massive, $2.4 billion scheme to defraud investors. […]
Tone was a great man and would of never done anything to hurt anyone i think this case should be looked over again
god bless tone and hope that everything will get better for him
As an ex Refco Senior Vice President I had so many conflicts with both Grant and Bennett. Their demise proves Karma.Back in the 80’s/90s their ethics were non existent, my only satisfaction is 2 fold. I predicted their downfall based more on their convoluted deals with Ross Corp,even back then. And my other great satisfaction is I sued them and won out of court….very much a David V Goliath moment.Bennett you shat on people to satisfy your uber ego…enjoy your time behind bars.
They both were very arrogant from the word go. They were self-promoters that were finally caught.
I disagree completely. Tone was a great man who was wrongfully convicted. You have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t think someone who served his country, had a great education, and made something from nothing would throw it all away. He was a great man and will never be forgotten.