Briefly

The former chief executive and chief financial officer of commodities brokerage giant Refco Inc. pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges they defrauded investors, causing more than $1 billion in losses.

Former CFO Robert C. Trosten, 37, of Sarasota, Fla., was freed on $10 million bail -- secured with his Florida home -- after entering the plea before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in New York.

Also entering a not-guilty plea to new charges in a rewritten indictment was former CEO Phillip R. Bennett, 58, of Gladstone, N.J. He was already free on $50 million bail.