Who's to blame for the Refco mess?

Recall that commodities brokerage Refco collapsed in 2005, just a few months after its IPO. What a mess. But who is to blame? Well, adding yet another bit of bad news to the private equity industry's recent litany, the trustee of the firm has sued the private equity firm that took it public, Thomas H. Lee. The firm bought out the company 2004. The thrust of the complaint is that the firm should have known about some of the accounting irregularities that ultimately doomed the company. The suit does not allege that the firm knew about the massive fraud that was later uncovered. For its part, Thomas H. Lee intends to sue Grant Thornton, Refco's former auditors, and are looking at others "responsible parties."

For more:
- here's a New York Times article