Refco Creditors Cry Foul

But legal experts say the confidentiality surrounding the action could be an indication that federal prosecutors are looking into allegations raised by the broker's creditors. The federal prosecutors investigating the accounting fraud that led to Refco's collapse are exempt from the judge's sealing order.

Lawyers from Milbank Tweed and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, which represents Refco, did not return telephone calls. A Lehman spokesman declined to comment.

Despite all the secrecy, some of the details of the pending court action were disclosed in a Dec. 23 regulatory filing by the S&P Managed Futures Index Fund. In the filing, the fund said the creditors are seeking recovery of the $312 million, claiming it was a "preferential transfer.''

The fund's investment adviser, PlusFunds Group, a New York firm that manages $2.5 billion in assets for hedge funds, helped arrange the transfer of the $312 million from Refco to Lehman.

PlusFunds, which recently announced that its three top officers would resign at the end of they year, declined to comment. Paul Aaronson, PlusFunds' outgoing president, referred all questions to the firm's spokesman.

The court docket for the litigation reveals that on Dec. 23, PlusFunds and the Refco creditors signed a 10-page stipulation in the case. The stipulation is filed under a court protective order.

The timing of the money transfer certainly appears to have been fortuitous, given the quick collapse of Refco.

A person familiar with the Refco bankruptcy says the money transfer occurred on Oct. 11, a day after the brokerage disclosed that CEO Phillip Bennett allegedly had hatched a scheme to keep hundreds of millions of dollars in customer trading losses off the firm's book.

The money was moved out of an account at Refco Capital Markets, the brokerage's offshore, unregulated subsidiary. Two days after the money was transferred, Refco froze all customer accounts at Refco Capital Markets, preventing anyone from redeeming their money.