A federal judge in New York has let a U.S. regulator’s lawsuit proceed against former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine over the collapse of a brokerage firm in one of the nation’s largest bankruptcies.

Judge Victor Marrero said the allegations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission provide “reasonable inferences” that Corzine violated the Commodity Exchange Act by illegally transferring funds from customer segregated accounts at MF Global. More than $1 billion in customer money vanished.

The judge rejected applications by Corzine’s lawyers on Tuesday to dismiss the lawsuit that was filed last year. He says that he must accept the claims as true at this early stage of the litigation.

Corzine is a former Democratic governor of New Jersey, former U.S. senator and ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs.

(AP)