CFTC Charges Two Tx. Men With Defrauding Former Employer    	
    	
    	
   	
 10/29/2001    	
 Dow Jones Commodities Service    	
    	
    	
    	
 (Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)    	
   	
    	
   	
 WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Monday it has filed an administrative action against two   Texasmen for defrauding their former employer, Coastal Corporation.   The CFTC says over a five-month period during 1996, Clay Krhovjak, of Bellville, Texas, and Paul Cochran, of Houston, engaged in a fraudulent trading scheme to allocate profitable trades belonging to Coastal to accounts controlled by other unnamed scheme participants. 	
   	
  The two men were assistant vice presidents at Coastal'scommodity futures trading desk in   Houstonand were responsible for placing energy futures orders for Coastal with floor personnel at the New York Mercantile Exchange, the CFTC said.   The CFTC said the men conducted their scheme through Refined Energy, Inc. of Red Bank, New Jersey, which was one of the NYMEX floor operations used by Coastal.   "This allocation scheme ensured Cochran, Krhovjakand other participants risk-free personal profits," according to the CFTC complaint.   The CFTC also alleges the two men defrauded Coastal by trading ahead of the firm's futures trades, in that they used advance knowledge of Coastal trades to obtain profits illegally for themselves and others.   A public hearing will be held at a later date to determine if the allegations are true and if so, what sanctions are appropriate, the CFTC said.   Separately, in September 2001, Krhovjakand Cochran each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Sentencing in that case is expected in early 2002, the CFTC said.   -By Kim Archer, Dow Jones Newswires;   202-479-0853; Kim.Archer@dowjones.com