Ferrat was involved with SOFINSA a Swiss-based finance firm, as well as Fairfax, Virginia-based Chadwick International, an exporter of modular homes to third world countries.
Numerous rumors regarding Ferrat have surfaced since his death. It is often claimed that he was an associate of Ron Brown, the American Commerce Secretary killed in April, 1996 while being investigated for corruption. Ferrat is said to have been scheduled to fly on the plane that crashed, killing Brown. There are also rumors that in the weeks prior to his death, Ferrat transferred millions of dollars into family bank accounts, and took out millions of dollars worth of life insurance. The FBI is accused of irregularities in investigating Ferrat after the flight 800 disaster.
Those who espouse these theories seldom make clear the nature of Ferrat's association with Brown. On one occasion the two were part of the same trade mission to the Ivory Coast, but whether they had known each other before this, or remained in contact afterwards, is not publicly known. The claim that Ferrat was scheduled to fly on the plane that killed Ron Brown has been denied by George S. Henderson, Jr CEO of Chadwick International, who says he was the one scheduled to fly, but backed out.