Ex-Refco chief reports to serve prison term

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Phillip Bennett, the former chief executive of collapsed commodities broker Refco, reported to prison on Thursday to serve a 16-year sentence for fraud, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.

Bennett, 60, was sentenced on July 3 after pleading guilty in February to 20 criminal counts related to a $2.4 billion fraud that led to Refco's collapse. The company was a global trading empire until it unraveled in 2005.

On July 28, Bennett filed papers in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to appeal his sentence for fraud and conspiracy.

The appeal was on his sentence only, not his conviction. As part of his sentence, Bennett will forfeit all his assets.

The Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said Bennett reported to the Federal Correctional Institute in Fort Dix, New Jersey, which is a low security prison for men.

Bennett had been ordered to be kept under house arrest in his New Jersey home until his scheduled surrender on Thursday.

After serving his sentence, he is to be deported to his native Britain.

Refco sought bankruptcy protection in October 2005 after revealing that Bennett had hidden $430 million in bad customer debt.

Before sentencing, Bennett's lawyers had sought leniency, citing his guilty plea and cooperation with civil lawsuits spurred by Refco's demise. In a memo to Judge Naomi Buchwald, who oversaw the case, they had argued that a lengthy term would likely be a life sentence for Bennett.

Prosecutors, however, argued that Bennett was a "fundamentally and thoroughly dishonest human being," saying his greed drove his long-running scheme to lie about Refco's financial condition. Through the fraud, they said, Bennett lived lavishly, acquiring luxuries including a $20 million airplane and $11 million worth of race cars.

(Reporting by Grant McCool, Editing by Maureen Bavdek)