We've said all along that someone who worked at MF Global knows what happened to the missing $1 billion.

We were hopeful that these employees would step forward. But when prosecutors and investigators furiously investigate in a hot-house environment, there's always a chance that scapegoats will be found. Which bring us to the former MF Global Treasurer Edith O'Brien, whom DealBook has identified as a "person of interest" in the escalating investigations.

Investigators have turned up an email that instructed O'Brien to transfer $200 million to of customer funds from MF Global to JPMorgan. She apparently made the transfer, though it's unclear who directed her to make the transfer.

 "There is no indication that she had reason to suspect that the money being transferred included customer money." And she has not been accused of any crimes, though in this environment she perhaps had little choice but to hire a top criminal attorney, Reid Weingarten, the same lawyer who represents Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

Just prior to the transfer, MF Global was embarrassed because they were negotiating a deal with the bank, which refused to go forward unless MF Global paid up. At that point, CEO Jon Corzine was briefed by O'Brien, who told him that everything was legitimate, according to his testimony.

We'll have to wait and see where this goes. You get the sense that people are scrambling to find scapegoats. To her credit, O'Brien has worked with investigators to help uncover the missing funds.

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