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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By MARCY GORDON
AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A congressional panel has voted to subpoena former Sen.
Jon Corzine to testify next Thursday about his role leading MF Global, a
brokerage firm that collapsed this fall after a disastrous bet on European
debt.
The hearing will be a rare moment in Washington. Congressional historians
had to reach back to 1908, when a former senator from North Carolina was
called to testify in connection with a corporate lobbying scandal, to find a
similar instance of an ex-member of Congress being summoned by his former
peers.
The House Agriculture Committee voted Friday to issue the subpoena after
Corzine failed to reply to an informal request to appear at the hearing.
Chairman Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said his testimony is "essential to
fulfill our objectives."
Hours later the head of the Senate Agriculture Committee called for
subpoenas to be issued to Corzine and other MF Global executives to appear
Dec. 13 before that panel, if they don't come voluntarily.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said she plans to convene a meeting of
committee members Tuesday to vote on the subpoenas. And a third panel, the
House Financial Services oversight subcommittee, announced plans to vote
Wednesday on a subpoena for Corzine to appear at its Dec. 15 hearing.
"MF Global's customers, including many farmers and small business owners,
trusted this firm to make purchases on their behalf, and now their money is
missing," Stabenow said. "A matter of this magnitude requires a thorough
investigation."
A spokesman for Corzine declined to comment.
MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 31. Corzine resigned as
chairman and CEO a few days later. In just a week, stock investors lost an
estimated $585 million.
At the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Corzine could face tough
questions from former Senate colleagues.
Corzine, a Democrat, represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate from 2001 to
2005. For two of those years, he led the committee that raised campaign
money for Democrats seeking election to the Senate. He later served one term
as New Jersey's governor before moving on to lead MF Global. He was also
CEO of Goldman Sachs from 1994 to 1999.
Corzine has few good options now that the House Agriculture Committee has
voted to subpoena Corzine and the other two panels are poised to do so. By
law, anyone who is subpoenaed by a congressional committee must appear
before it. If they don't, they could be held in contempt of Congress and go
to prison.
Corzine could refuse at the hearing to answer their questions, invoking his
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. That could diminish his
credibility.
Still, if he cooperates with lawmakers, he could provide information that
might come back to hurt him in criminal and civil investigations.
Corzine "is being whipsawed between the congressional subpoena and the
looming criminal investigation," said Robert Mintz, a former federal
prosecutor in New Jersey who heads the white-collar defense practice at
McCarter & English in Newark.
"It's a unique situation that Jon's in," said Abbe Lowell, a defense
attorney who was counsel to the House of Representatives and whose clients
have included former Sen. John Edwards and former Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons.
Regulators are looking into whether MF Global used money from customers'
accounts for its own purposes as its financial condition worsened. That
would violate securities rules. The FBI is investigating whether the firm
violated any criminal laws.
An estimated $1.2 billion or more may be missing from customer accounts.
Regulators say MF Global moved money out of customer accounts within days as
the firm's cash dried up.
MF Global was one of the biggest players in the derivatives market.
Derivatives are investments that are based on the value of an underlying
asset, such as interest rates or oil prices.
No one at MF Global has been charged with a crime or civil violation. |
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