Tracking the Bawag Scavenger Hunt

Creditors of Refco(RFXCQ Quote) cast a wide net hunting down the U.S. assets of Bawag, the Austrian bank tied to the fraud that brought down the commodities brokerage.

In late April, more than three dozen financial firms received court orders directing them to put an immediate freeze on any assets the Bank fuer Arbeit und Wirtschaft may have had either invested or deposited with them. Most of the so-called attachment orders were served on the various firms on April 26 by lawyers for Refco's creditors.

To date, the names of the financial institutions holding roughly $1 billion of Bawag's U.S. assets have remained a secret, even though the Austrian bank has since agreed to pay nearly $700 million in restitution to federal prosecutors, Refco's creditors and the defunct brokerage's shareholders. The bankruptcy judge overseeing the liquidation of Refco directed the creditors to file the names under seal. ...