INTL FCStone said that it will appeal a federal court ruling ordering it to return $15.6 million to the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Sentinel Management Group, Reuters reported on Friday. FCStone, a New York-based commodities brokerage with many farmers for clients, had to return the funds to the trustee because a distribution to former Sentinel clients was unfair, U.S. District Judge James Zagel ruled. Judge Zagel on Thursday ordered FCStone to post an $8 million cash deposit with the U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois pending a judgment in the appeal. Sentinel managed investments for clients, including FCStone, until it collapsed in 2007, when prosecutors say that executives moved customer money out of protected accounts to be used as collateral for loans to Sentinel's own trading operations.
