Proving that $1.2 billion is actually really difficult to find, the Justice Department and news outlets are clinging to testimony from a fourth-hand witness saying that Jon Corzine knows where that MF Global money went. Corzine, of course, was a dead end in his Senate testimony, saying, "I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date." He added, "I never gave any instruction to anyone at MF Global to misuse customer funds." Which has lead to Reuters and the Justice Department to lean heavily on this fourth-hand account: "CME Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy, testifying to the Senate Agriculture Committee, on Tuesday said a CME auditor participated in a phone call during which an MF Global employee indicated that Corzine knew of the loan," Reuters wrote.  And it's become the running theme as news trickles out of the MF Global mess. From the gory bits of Corzine's board-approved financial moves to his reputation as a "rogue trader" -- it all follows a similar pattern Duffy's allegation: a series of unnamed links that stops at either Corzine's or his unnamed board members' feet.  A criminal defense attorney told Reuters that it was still uncertain whether or not Duffy's account would implicate Corzine, but he said that by testifying, Corzine knowingly opened himself up to the potential for charges beyond his conduct while MF Global CEO, including perjury and obstruction of justice.  But let's just take this one criminal charge at a time.

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Alexander Abad-Santos