MF Global deal foils Corzine court drama

A Manhattan federal jury has been robbed of its chance to decide whether the collapse of commodities broker MF Global was the fault of its chief executive, Jon Corzine, or his accounting firm.

Bankrupt MF Global, which was seeking to pin a large part of the firm’s stunning 2011 collapse on PricewaterhouseCoopers, settled their nasty legal battle on Wednesday, sources said.

The parties notified the judge Thursday morning, a source said. Terms were not disclosed.

A clerk for the Manhattan federal judge Victor Marrero declined to say whether the deal will need court approval.

MF Global sued PwC for $2 billion claiming the accounting giant approved “risky accounting” methods that kept billions of dollars in dubious bond bets off the books.

Corzine, who took over leadership of the firm after losing a bitter New Jersey gubernatorial re-election race to Chris Christie, took the stand in the case, marking his first public appearance on the matter since he testified before Congress about MF Global’s bankruptcy in 2011.

Corzine said MF Global’s bankruptcy had nothing to do with $6.3 billion in European bonds investments he approved of, which spooked investors leading up to the firm’s collapse.

“I thought they were relatively low risk,” the former Goldman Sachs chief insisted.

The company’s spectacular downfall — and revelations that more than $1.6 billion in customers’ funds had gone missing in the process — proved a drag on Corzine’s illustrious four-decade career.

The former US senator agreed earlier this year to pay a $5 million penalty over the improper use of customer funds as MF Global struggled to stay afloat.

The 70-year-old disgraced executive also agreed to a lifetime ban from leading a futures brokerage or registering with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.