Legal news : huge lawsuit against Refco Overseas Ltd & Refco Securities S.A. in Paris

While Franco-American relations have been rather strained since the start of the Crédit Lyonnais' current troubles, not to mention those yet to come - it appears that the French State itself will have to pay most of the current transaction costs, if any - in the Executive Life scandal, a joint and several lawsuit began in May 2003 in Paris against REFCO OVERSEAS LIMITED, the english subsidiary of the U.S. Holding REFCO GROUP LIMITED LLC, which is the number one provider of soft commodity execution and clearing and which is also ranked as the third broker of the LIFFE (the London international financial futures exchange), and against the french subsidiary REFCO SECURITIES S.A. in Paris, regarding an amount of 29,470,987 euros and more claimed by a french business contributor, Gerard Sillam.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Market makers, regulatory authorities and the public, both in France and abroad, are entitled for their own interest to be told about the following situation immediately. That is the reason why this press release is sent.

Huge lawsuit against REFCO OVERSEAS LTD. & REFCO SECURITIES S.A. in Paris

PARIS, FRANCE (PRWEB) 23 October 2003, - While Franco-American relations have been rather strained since the start of the Crédit Lyonnais' current troubles, not to mention those yet to come - it appears that the French State itself will have to pay most of the current transaction costs, if any - in the Executive Life scandal, a joint and several lawsuit began in May 2003 in Paris against REFCO OVERSEAS LIMITED, the english subsidiary of the U.S. Holding REFCO GROUP LIMITED LLC, which is the number one provider of soft commodity execution and clearing and which is also ranked as the third broker of the LIFFE (the London international financial futures exchange), and against the french subsidiary REFCO SECURITIES S.A. in Paris, regarding an amount of 29,470,987 euros and more claimed by a french business contributor, Gerard Sillam.

These Court proceedings were specially authorized at short notice by a Court decision of the Judge sitting at the Commercial Court of Paris on 25 April 2003, at the request of the parisian lawyer Jean-Marc Descoubes (tel +33 1 44 43 00 60, E-mail : jmdescoubes@hotmail.com).

Maître Jean-Marc Descoubes, in the name of Gerard Sillam, has instituted proceedings jointly and severally against REFCO OVERSEAS LIMITED, governed by English law, and against the French stock market listed company, REFCO SECURITIES S.A., for payment of the sum of 29,470,987 euros provisionally set on 31 march 2003, which is the claim of Sillam payable by successive enforcements; this claim increases each month and none of which has been paid to date.

The two writs were issued by the bailiffs, more than 5 months ago in Paris and more than 4 months ago in London.

The customer introduced the 1st September 1997 by Gerard Sillam to REFCO was Mr. Imad Lahoud's company, as an introducing customer, so all its business, as a huge hedge fund manager and equities derivatives and futures broker was the basis of the agreement.

Mr. Lahoud and his group of companies, named the HL Group, has added in the last quarter of 1999, by signing several agreements with REFCO GLOBAL HOLDINGS Inc., a Delaware Company of the REFCO Group based in Chicago and represented by the Managing Director of REFCO Overseas Ltd. , the London based entity of REFCO Group Ltd. LLC, a new securities business to REFCO S.A. which became consequently REFCO SECURITIES S.A.

The U.S. top management of REFCO, Mr. Phillip BENNETT, President & CEO of REFCO Group Ltd. LLC, and Mr. Dennis Klejna, former Director of the enforcement division of the C.F.T.C., and currently General Counsel of REFCO, refused any peaceful solution proposed by Sillam in the end of 2000 and choosed at this time to order a merger between REFCO S.A, which was loosing several millions of euros per year since several years, and the formely company owned by REFCO S.A. and the group of Lahoud, REFCO HL SECURITIES S.N.C (whose name initially changed into REFCO SECURITIES S.N.C.) which resulted in the current highly profitable REFCO SECURITIES S.A., because of the new business which has been brought by Lahoud after that Sillam introduced him to REFCO as a business contributor.

Much more grave is the fact that REFCO is currently trying to deny with Sillam the right to go to the Courts, because his real estate bankruptcy which started in June 1994 is not completely over. Before that, Sillam was especially authorized by the Commercial Court of Bobigny (France), the second Court of France, which is in charge of this bankruptcy, to go to any Courts in the world against REFCO OVERSEAS LTD. & REFCO SECURITIES S.A., or any others natural persons or entities of the REFCO GROUP, just because this matter was declared definitively outside of its real estate bankruptcy, and because Gerard Sillam, as a natural person, profits of the article 2 of the French Constitution, and the articles 6 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

REFCO, as a matter of fact, is apparently currently knowingly acting in violation of the articles 6, 14 & 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and may face huge amounts of punitive damages.

Gerard Sillam, furthermore decided to refer the matter to the American Courts, taking legal proceedings against all the parties involved, in particular in order to redress the huge moral injury that he has suffered as a result of this possible corporate misconduct".

Gerard Sillam will file a lawsuit in the appropriate Courts in the U.S through an American litigator. This lawsuit may also be based on U.S. law that gives American courts jurisdiction over violations of international law, regardless of where they occur.

The REFCO Group, with its consolidated assets of more than 20 billions U.S. dollars, is the world non-banking leader in financial intermediation in most of the organized international financial markets, in world raw materials markets and foreign exchange markets, especially the whole range of futures products in these markets.

Refco Overseas Ltd (ROL) is the European division of Refco Group Ltd. LLC, the largest futures broker in the world in terms of volume cleared. ROL is currently the number one provider of soft commodity execution and clearing, whilst being in the top three on the LME and Financial Futures Market.
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Press contacts: Gerard Sillam
Tel :+ 33 6 66 01 20 20 Fax :+33 1 40 38 40 78
E-mail: gerard@sillam.cjb.net