Biden Is Fundraising With Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Among The Sharpest Critics Of One Of Obama’s Biggest Fundraisers, Former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine

“Vice President Joe Biden Is Scheduled To Hold A Fundraiser For Sen. Amy Klobuchar April 11 In Minneapolis.”  (Joe Kimball, “VP Biden To Hold Minneapolis Fundraiser For Amy Klobuchar,” MinnPost, 4/4/12)

FORMER MF GLOBAL CEO JON CORZINE HAS RAISED MORE THAN $500,000 FOR OBAMA’S RELELECTION

Corzine Played A “Central Role” In Obama’s Wall Street Fundraising Efforts. “His new legal troubles, sparked by the bankruptcy filing of his investment firm, MF Global, could complicate the president’s efforts to raise money from the financial community given Corzine’s central role in those efforts.” (Michael Isikoff, “Corzine, Top Obama Fundraiser, Under FBI Investigation,” MSNBC, 11/2/11)

• Corzine Has Bundled Over $500,000 For Obama’s Reelection Campaign. (Center For Responsive Politics, Opensecrets.Org, Accessed 4/9/12)
• Obama Has Not Returned The Money Corzine Brought In From Other Donors. “Since then, Obama has returned donations that his campaign received from Corzine — but not the money the former New Jersey US senator and governor collected from other donors.” (Carle Campanile, “Obama’s ‘Bundled’ Up With Corzine,”New York Post, 2/1/12)

CORZINE WAS AT THE HELM OF MF GLOBAL WHEN IT FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY, LOSING BILLIONS IN CUSTOMER MONEY

In October 2011, Jon Corzine’s Wall Street Firm, MF Global, Filed For Bankruptcy. “Broker-dealer MF Global, headed by former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs chairman John Corzine, has filed for bankruptcy protection, apparently because of holdings of European debt.” (“Broker-Dealer MF Global Files For Bankruptcy,” USA Today, 10/31/11)

MF Global Used Segregated Funds To “Cover Its Own Mounting Expenses.” “In a preliminary report released Monday, James Giddens, the trustee, said that after months of scouring hard drives and interviewing staff, he’s traced most of the missing $1.2 billion of customer money since MF Global went belly-up last October. Giddens didn’t say exactly where the money went or whether it would be able to be recovered. He also described a ‘chaotic situation’ in the firm’s final days, as MF Global struggled to cope with collateral calls and an increasing number of withdrawals. The funds now missing were supposed to be ‘segregated’ or protected, but it appears MF Global used the cash to cover its own mounting expenses. Former CEO and ex-New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has said he cannot explain where the money went.” (Ilya Marritz, “MF Global Accounts Started To Empty 5 Days Before Bankruptcy: Trustee,” WNYC, 2/6/12)

• “Starting On Oct. 26, ‘Funds Did Not Return As Anticipated.’” “MF Global often moved money between its own accounts and those of customers in amounts of less than $50 million a day, replacing the cash by day’s end, according to the report. As cash demands on the firm surged in the last week of October, ‘much larger amounts were used, apparently with the assumption that funds would be restored by the end of the day,’ according to the report. Starting on Oct. 26, ‘funds did not return as anticipated,’ the trustee said.” (Tiffany Kary and Linda Sandler, “MF Brokerage Trustee Traces $105 Billion In Cash Movement,” Bloomberg , 2/6/12)

Edith O’Brien, Assistant Treasurer, Was Asked By Corzine To Fix The Overdraft At J.P. Morgan In London. “Among those at the center of money transfers in the days leading up to the collapse was Edith O’Brien, an assistant treasurer at MF Global. On the morning of Oct. 28, according to people familiar with the matter, Ms. O’Brien received a call from Mr. Corzine, who asked her to resolve a problem: The firm’s bank account at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in London had run out of money, creating an overdraft.” (Julie Steinberg, Aaron Lucchetti, and Mike Spencer, “Investigators Probe A Rush At MF Global To Move Cash,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/23/12)

• Corzine Gave “Direct Instructions” To Transfer Funds From A Customer Account To Meet The Overdraft At JP Morgan In London. “Jon S. Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave ‘direct instructions’ to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in one of the brokerage’s JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) accounts in London, according to an e-mail sent by a firm executive.” (Phil Mattingly and Silla Brush, “MF Global’s Corzine Ordered Funds Moved To JPMorgan, Memo Says,” Bloomberg, 3/23/12)

MF Global’s Bankruptcy Has Wreaked “Havoc” On Minnesota Farmers

“The Havoc Wreaked” By The Failure Of Jon Corzine’s MF Global Rippled Through The Farm Belt. “The havoc wreaked by MF Global’s bankruptcy filing has been felt not just by Wall Street investors and traders, but also by wheat and corn growers, cattle ranchers and pig farmers. Dotting the farm belt, many who used the commodities market to protect against price swings are finding their money locked up and their hedges unwound due to the firm’s downfall.” (Jerry A Dicolo And Dan Strumpf, “MF Global Collapse Felt In Farm Country,” The Wall Street Journal, 12/7/11)

• Farmers, Ranchers And Rural Businesses Were The Hardest Hit By MF Global’s Failure And The Investigations Following The Bankruptcy. “Farmers, ranchers and rural businesses such as grain elevators and feed mills were among the hardest hit when they were cut off from the cash in their hedging accounts at MF Global, which sought bankruptcy protection in October after making a disastrous bet on European government debt. The number of people harmed and the extent of their losses isn’t clear yet.” (Steve Karnowski, “Shock Waves From MF Global Collapse Felt On Farms,” The Associated Press, 12/4/11)

More Than 100 Minnesota Farmers Have Had Their Money Frozen Due To MF Global’s Collapse. “Magnuson is among more than 100 Minnesota farmers estimated to have assets frozen as a result of MF Global’s bankruptcy filing and an estimated $1.2 billion in missing customer funds.” (Jim Spencer, “MF Global Woes Ripple Into Heartland,” Star Tribune, 12/1/11)

Hog Producers In Minnesota And Wisconsin Could Have Lost Over $40 Million. “Hog producers who rode out tough years in 2008 and 2009 came to rely heavily on risk management tools and were starting to lock in some pretty good profits before MF Global collapsed, said Mark Greenwood, a senior vice president and swine expert at AgStar Financial Services, which serves farmers mainly in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Greenwood estimates that about half of the hog producers his company serves have been affected, with combined losses probably more than $40 million. The 300 to 400 clients have individual losses of $50,000 to over $1 million, he said.” (Steve Karnowski, “Shock Waves From MF Global Collapse Felt On Farms,” The Associated Press, 12/4/11)

Dean Tofteland, Minnesota Farmer And Former MF Global Customer: “Back On Main Street, It’s Called Stealing.” “Between him and those other two guys, they should have a pretty good idea of where the money went. … Commingling or whatever they call it in their world – back on Main Street, it’s called stealing.” (James O’Toole, “MF Global: Corzine To Go Before Senate,” CNN Money, 12/12/11)

BUT WHILE KLOBUCHAR SAYS “THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR MF GLOBAL’S FAILURE MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE,” BIDEN AND OBAMA SING HIS PRAISES

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN): Minnesota Farmers Only Receiving 72 Cents Per Dollar Invested In MF Global. “At a time when farmers, ranchers and other investors in my state have recovered only 72 cents on every dollar they held in segregated accounts with the firm, I find this action unacceptable.” (David Benoit, “The Senator Letters That Bash MF Global’s Bonus Plan,” The Wall Street Journal’s Deal Journal, 3/12/12)

• Klobuchar: “Those Responsible For MF Global’s Failure Must Be Held Accountable For Their Actions.” KLOBUCHAR: “The collapse of MF Global has once again left the folks the system was supposed to protect holding the short end of the stick. Once again, Main Street is feeling the pain, and this time the heartland is bearing the brunt of it. … Those responsible for MF Global’s failure must be held accountable for their actions, and I will continue to work to ensure farmers and ranchers in Minnesota and across the country can access their much-needed funds as quickly as possible.” (Sen. Amy Klobuchar, “Sen. Klobuchar To Mf Global: Return Minnesota Farmers’ Money,” Press Release, 12/8/11)
• Klobuchar: “This Isn’t Monopoly Money, It Is The Hard Earned Dollars Of Americans.” KLOBUCHAR: “It is completely inappropriate and outrageous that funds that were supposed to be in segregated accounts weren’t properly accounted for — this isn’t Monopoly money, it is the hard earned dollars of Americans. … Our farmers and ranchers need to know that when they use the market to manage risk, some Wall Street banker isn’t gambling with their savings.” (Matt Peterson, “MF Global bankruptcy hits Austin,” Austin Daily Herald, 12/6/11)

But Obama Called Jon Corzine “Our Wall Street Guy.” “The rollout also provided a showcase for Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs CEO whom Obama referred to as ‘our Wall Street guy’ at a meeting of Democratic governors in Chicago on Friday.” (Claire Heininger, “Corzine Profile Rises In Obama Camp,” The Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/23/08)

Biden: “Literally The First Guy I Called Was Jon Corzine. Not A Joke. Not A Joke. Because First Of All, He’s The Smartest Guy I Know In Terms Of The Economy And On Finance.” BIDEN: “It’s not coincidental that that’s what the Recovery Act is. Jon Corzine helped craft the Recovery Act. It’s not coincidental that the things he did here turned out to be the exact same things the recovery act has because way back in the transition period before we were sworn in, when Barack Obama and I were literally sitting at a desk in a high rise in Chicago beginning to plan how we would try to get this economy out of a ditch, literally the first guy I called was Jon Corzine. Not a joke. Not a joke. Because first of all, he’s the smartest guy I know in terms of the economy and on finance.” (Vice President Biden, Remarks, Lodi, NJ, 5/7/11)

• Biden: “Jon, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.” “If you need any evidence of whether or not what I’m telling you is accurate, look at the recovery efforts of New Jersey and you can mirror them, they just fall right on top of what we’re doing. And so Jon, thank you, thank you, thank you.” (Vice President Biden, Remarks, Lodi, NJ, 5/7/11)
• Watch Biden Say That Corzine “Helped Craft” The Stimulus

Customers Still Haven’t Received Their Missing Money

There Is $1.6 Billion Missing From Customer Accounts. “The MF Global Missing Money Caper continues. Earlier this week, MF Global’s trustee provided an update on several things but not the missing money. Turns out he just needed a few more days so the world could get ready to hear this: There’s another $400 million now included in the official figure. (Insert Law & Order sound effect here.) Colleague Jacob Bunge is reporting that the new estimate for the deficiency in customer accounts is $1.6 billion.” (David Benoit, “MF Global Missing $1.6 Billion, counting U.K.,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Deal Journal,” 2/10/12)

• MF Global Trustee Fears He Cannot “Claw Back” Customer Money Trapped Overseas.” “The revised figure reflects growing concerns that the trustee cannot claw back $700 million in customer money trapped overseas. Until now, the trustee did not include the $700 million when projecting the shortfall, hoping to avoid a battle with MF Global’s British arm, which is holding the customer money.” (Ben Protess, “MF Global Trustee Sees $1.6 Billion Customer Shortfall,” The New York Times’ “Dealbook,” 2/10/12)

“In An Ominous Sign For Farmers, Ranchers And Other Commodities Investors Who Were Customers Of MF Global, Mr. Giddens Said It Could Be Hard To Retrieve The Money Even If He Finds It.” “But in an ominous sign for farmers, ranchers and other commodities investors who were customers of MF Global, Mr. Giddens said it could be hard to retrieve the money even if he finds it. ‘We will then determine whether there is a sound and legal basis for recoveries against third parties that will help make customers whole,’ according to Monday’s court filing. Mr. Giddens warned that those efforts ‘will be very complex legal and factual determinations.’” (Aaron Lucchetti, “Challenges For MF Trustee,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/7/12)

• “Mr. Giddens’s Comments Are The Clearest Indication Yet That Much Of The Missing Money Might Never Be Returned To Customers.” “Mr. Giddens’s comments are the clearest indication yet that much of the missing money might never be returned to customers. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that a ‘significant amount’ of the money could have ‘vaporized’ as a result of chaotic trading at MF Global during the week before the company’s Oct. 31 bankruptcy filing, said a person close to the investigation.” (Aaron Lucchetti, “Challenges For MF Trustee,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/7/12)

There Are “Huge Challenges” To Retrieving All Missing Funds. “A bankruptcy trustee investigating MF Global Holdings Ltd. said he faces huge challenges getting back an estimated $1.2 billion in customer funds drained from the securities firm before it collapsed. In a report Monday, James W. Giddens told a bankruptcy-court judge that investigators have ‘traced a majority of the cash transactions’ made by the New York company as it scrambled to stay alive during the last week of October. Much of that money went to banks, exchanges, clearinghouses, other firms and MF Global affiliates, the bankruptcy trustee added, cautioning that further work is needed to reach a definitive conclusion about ‘where the property wired out’ of the securities firm’s customer-segregated account ‘ultimately ended up.’” (Aaron Lucchetti, “Challenges For MF Trustee,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/7/12)