Refco ex-CEO Bennett pleads guilty to fraud

By Paritosh Bansal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Refco Chief Executive Phillip Bennett pleaded guilty on Friday to fraud and other charges stemming from the 2005 collapse of the futures and commodities broker.

Bennett, 59, admitted to concealing the fraud from Refco's auditors, investors, buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners THL.UL, which bought a majority interest in Refco through a $1.9 billion leveraged buyout in August 2004, and others.

"I wish to publicly apologize to my family and to all those who were harmed by my conduct," Bennett, his voice breaking, told the judge during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. "I take full responsibility for my actions."

Bennett had been scheduled to go on trial in March, along with former Chief Financial Officer Robert Trosten and former President Tone Grant, in a case that drew comparisons to the furor over a massive accounting fraud that drove giant telecommunications company WorldCom Inc into bankruptcy.

The 20-count indictment charged Bennett with conspiracy, securities fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, false filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, material misstatements to auditors and money laundering.

District Judge Naomi Buchwald, who accepted Bennett's plea, set a sentencing hearing for May 20. Bennett, who is a British citizen, faces a maximum of 315 years in prison and deportation.

Buchwald denied a request by the government to remand Bennett to custody and instead made his bail terms stricter, limiting his residence to his home in New Jersey and imposing restrictions on when he can travel to New York.

"Mr. Bennett has candidly acknowledged his involvement in the matter," his lawyer, Gary Naftalis , said after the hearing. "He was forthcoming and candid and wants to put this matter behind him."