WHO GOT THE MF GLOBAL $1.2 BILLION?

WHO GOT THE MF GLOBAL $1.2 BILLION? It has been months since MF Global filed for bankruptcy with an apparent $1.2 billion shortfall in customer funds that were supposed to kept separate from the company’s own funds. (James Giddens, the trustee for the company, has recently estimated that the shortfall is actually $1.6 billion.) One mystery that has been bothering me. Who got the windfall? Somebody—or a number of somebodies—must have come in to work on the Monday after the MF Global collapse and had a whole lot more money than they had expected. And by now the extra money must have been noticed. I recognize that there is a temptation to keep a windfall, but there are accounting and tax consequences….