Refco Creditors Cry Foul

On Oct. 17, Refco's parent company filed for bankruptcy, an action that has led to a spate of customer lawsuits, seeking to reclaim some of the $1.8 billion in deposits that still remain frozen at Refco Capital Markets.

Up until he was forced out of Refco, Bennett had served as principal of the Refco affiliate that managed the S&P Managed Futures Index Fund. Bennett was succeeded by Richard Butt, a former top Refco executive and the current president of alternative investments for Man Financial Refco.

Man, the big London-based hedge fund conglomerate, bought most of the assets of Refco in a bankruptcy auction.

Butt could not be reached for comment. But in an Oct. 17 letter to investors, he said "less than 3%'' of the Sphinx fund's assets were exposed to Refco Capital Markets. He went on to say that the freeze on customer accounts at Refco would not "have a material impact upon the operations of the fund or the Sphinx fund, or either's ability to satisfy a request for redemption.''

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