MF Global execs don't know where $1.2B went

WASHINGTON -- Exasperated senators on Tuesday pressed former Democratic senator Jon Corzine and two other top executives of MF Global Holdings to explain how the now-bankrupt firm lost $1.2 billion in client money without the three knowing about it.

Members of the Senate agriculture committee got no clear-cut answers as the executives at the brokerage firm testified they weren't aware of problems until the night before the firm's Oct. 31 bankruptcy filing, the eighth-largest in U.S. history.

Corzine reiterated what he told the House agriculture committee last week: He was stunned to learn of the missing money and sympathizes with the firm's former clients, but he no longer has access to crucial data and documents that would help untangle what happened to the missing money.

"I never authorized the misuse of customer funds; I never intended to misuse customer funds," Corzine said. "As far as I'm concerned, (I) never gave instructions that anybody could misconstrue."

Corzine, who left the Senate in 2006 to be New Jersey's governor, took over MF Global last year after losing re-election. He also is a former head of Goldman Sachs. Bradley Abelow, president and COO of MF Global, and Henri Steenkamp, the firm's chief financial officer, also apologized Tuesday and said they, too, are waiting for investigators to unearth what happened to the $1.2 billion missing from 36,000 client accounts.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he's "baffled" that the executives couldn't provide answers. "There's got to be someone there who can tell us," he said.

Sen. Mike Johannes, R-Neb., scolded Steenkamp for saying he didn't know which company officials had access to client accounts. "You're dancing around with me," Johannes said, demanding names.

The Justice Department has launched a criminal probe into the bankruptcy, which took place after MF Global bought about $6.3 billion worth of bonds issued by heavily indebted European nations.