Edith O’Brien ain’t saying nuthin’.
The former MF Global assistant treasurer , who may know the secret behind the $1.6 billion in missing client funds, declined to answer questions from House lawmakers yesterday.
The money, which disappeared during MF’s chaotic final days, may have been moved by O’Brien — and lawmakers tried to ask her about the missing moolah.
But O’Brien invoked her Fifth Amendment Constitutional right against self-incrimination to the first two questions from the House panel.
She was then dismissed — and her much-anticipated appearance was over in about three minutes.
Bloomberg
Edith O'Brien
One question O’Brien was asked was whether she is seeking immunity in exchange for cooperating with federal prosecutors with their probe into the missing funds.
O’Brien’s zipper mouth frustrated some on the panel.
“I am disappointed because I believe you have important knowledge,” Rep. Randy Neugebauer, chair of the panel, said before dismissing her.
O’Brien, who wore her reddish, brown hair conservatively pulled back behind the ears, sat for a moment in stunned silence before saying “OK.” She then swiftly darted out of the ornate conference room followed by her high-powered legal team.
O’Brien entered the public spotlight in December after MF’s fallen CEO, Jon Corzine, fingered her as the person who assured him that $175 million in customer funds transferred to JPMorgan on the Friday before the Oct. 31 bankruptcy was perfectly legit.
The $175 million transfer covered an overdraft in a JP Morgan account held by MF’s London subsidiary and was necessary to help generate liquidity for the faltering firm, a JPMorgan executive testified yesterday.
JPMorgan’s General Counsel Diane Genova told lawmakers that Corzine had assured the bank’s executives that MF “had ample funds to cover the overdrafts and that they would be covered promptly.”
Documents obtained by the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee show that $200 million was moved that day from customers’ accounts to a firm account. Then the $175 million transfer was made from the firm account.
In an e-mail, O’Brien said she made the transfer at the request of Corzine, or “Per JC’s direct instructions.”
In a statement, Corzine said he “never directed Ms. O’Brien or anyone else regarding which account should be used to cure the overdrafts.”
MF executives were also grilled yesterday about rich bonuses they might get from trustee Louis Freeh, who is collecting assets for the main company for creditors.
Asked if he would accept a bonus while customers are left holding the bag, Henri Steenkamp, who was MF’s CFO at the time of the collapse, said, “If the trustee determines it is fair.”
kwhitehouse@nypost.com
Jon Corzine, O’Brien, O’Brien, MF Global, Randy Neugebauer, JPMorgan, lawmakers
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