Ponzi scheme

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Outsider Madoff Cultivated Steady Image

Accused scamster made exclusivity his scheme's selling point

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff rose to fame and fortune as one of America's top financial insiders but he never stopped acting like an outsider, associates tell the Wall Street Journal. Despite his reputation as outgoing "Uncle Bernie," the disgraced financier was often ill at ease socially and could be brusque...

Madoff Now Under 24-Hour House Arrest

Risk of 'harm or flight' lands guards outside accused's NYC pad

(Newser) - A New York judge placed accused fraudster Bernard Madoff under 24-hour arrest today, Bloomberg reports; a private security firm will also keep watch on his Upper East Side apartment after federal officials said there was a risk of “harm or flight.”  Madoff’s attorney would not say...

Connecticut Firm Helped Madoff Go Global

Fairfield Greenwich says it didn't know about improper dealings, had $7.5B invested

(Newser) - As Bernard Madoff’s financial network comes under scrutiny, one investment fund is emerging as an especially close partner, the Wall Street Journal reports. Fairfield Greenwich had $7.5 billion invested with Madoff, more than half the group’s total assets as of Nov. 1. There’s no evidence Fairfield...

Madoff Crony Harangued at Tony Fla. Club

Jaffe nearly fights with furious bilked investor at black-tie bash

(Newser) - Bob Jaffe, who recruited many of the marks for Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion fraud operation, got an earful after showing up last weekend at a Palm Beach party brimming with Madoff’s victims, a source tells the New York Post. When one saw Jaffe, “it nearly came to...

All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme
  All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme 
OPINION
Dec 19, 2008 8:12 AM CST

All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme

Wall Street's just a Ponzi scheme too

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion fraud wasn’t all that different from what his Wall Street peers were up to, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Oh sure, “Madoff allegedly skipped a few steps,” stealing the money without bothering to load up on debt, buy dubious...

Authorities May Claw Back Madoff 'Profits'

Investors who gained from Ponzi scheme may lose too

(Newser) - While thousands of investors are furious with Bernie Madoff, he did manage to make a few people very rich during the boom years. With handsome if fraudulent returns of 10% to 17%, investors who withdrew even a fraction of their principal may have ended up in the black. But as...

SEC Had Dirt on Madoff in '06
 SEC Had Dirt on Madoff in '06 
Dec 18, 2008 11:37 AM CST

SEC Had Dirt on Madoff in '06

But, obviously, didn't pursue it

(Newser) - The SEC knew that Bernie Madoff was misleading them about how he was handling his customers' money in 2006, the Wall Street Journal reports, and noted multiple violations which, if investigated, would have laid bare his Ponzi scheme. Instead, Madoff’s firm was told to register as an investment adviser,...

Madoff Shakes NY Real Estate Industry

Scandal jeopardizes dozens of projects; loans may be called in

(Newser) - New York's once booming real estate industry has already been struggling with the recession, but the revelation of Bernie Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme has hit commercial brokers and developers particularly hard. Deals across the city have been put in jeopardy, buyers have withdrawn pledges to purchase, and Madoff investments...

Madoff's Wife Under Scrutiny in Ponzi Scheme

(Newser) - SEC regulators are investigating whether Bernard Madoff's wife helped him cook the books in his $50 billion fraud scheme, Bloomberg reports. Investigators say that Ruth Madoff's name has shown up on transactions and that she may have helped track payments and keep secret records. Ruth, 67, has not been charged,...

Mukasey Steps Off Madoff Case

Rogue financier, meanwhile, placed under house arrest

(Newser) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey is recusing himself from the Bernard Madoff investigation because his son is representing an employee involved with the fraud case, Bloomberg reports. Mukasey also graduated from an Orthodox Jewish school where Madoff’s wife has taught and which placed $6 million in the fraudulent scheme. A...

Bernie Madoff, Gentleman of Leisure

Inside the personal life of America's favorite scam artist

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff maintained a very public life, and, like a perfect con man, no one thought he was capable of the crimes he stands accused of. Two weeks ago he popped into his  barber shop for his usual haircut, shave, mani, and pedi. “For me, he was a gentleman,...

Madoff Scheme Not Much Worse Than Legal Ones
Madoff Scheme Not Much Worse Than Legal Ones
OPINION
Dec 17, 2008 10:30 AM CST

Madoff Scheme Not Much Worse Than Legal Ones

End of communism let Wall Street become unhinged: Friedman

(Newser) - Wall Street used to be the epicenter of capitalism that the whole world wanted to emulate, but, on a trip to Hong Kong, Thomas Friedman discovers that the American financial establishment has lost its credibility. "We don’t just need a financial bailout," he writes in the New ...

Middlemen Lose Billions in Madoff Fraud

Hedge funds that sold access to Ponzi scheme face collapse

(Newser) - Last week Walter Noel was a successful hedge fund manager, with houses from Connecticut to the Caribbean and an adulatory photo shoot in Vanity Fair. But overnight, when Bernie Madoff's giant Ponzi scheme was exposed, his $14.1 billion firm, Fairfield Greenwich Group, lost more than half its assets. While...

Ex SEC Official's Marriage to Madoff Niece Investigated

Fraudster bragged of family ties to SEC

(Newser) - An SEC official dated and later married the niece of confessed fraudster Bernard Madoff, and the agency is investigating the link, reports the Wall Street Journal. Eric Swanson, an SEC director of compliance who left the agency, married Shana Madoff, a compliance lawyer at Madoff's firm, last year, but began...

SEC Chief Says His Staff Ignored Madoff Warnings

Cox calls actions 'deeply troubling'

(Newser) - SEC chief Christopher Cox blasted his own agency's failure to detect Bernard Madoff's massive investment-fraud scheme, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cox called it "deeply troubling" that SEC investigators had ignored "credible and specific allegations" dating back to at least 1999. He called on the SEC's inspector general...

Madoff Victims May Be Able to Sue Middlemen

Feeder funds could be headed to court

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff victims searching for avenues to recover their money will find their legal options depend on whether they invested directly with Madoff, Time reports, or though middlemen. Those who worked directly with Madoff will have up to $500,000 covered by the federal Securities Investor Protection Corporation. But they’...

SEC Under Fire for Flubbing Madoff Warnings

Judge liquidates confessed fraudster's investment firm

(Newser) - The SEC is coming under fire for failing to spot what may be the biggest securities fraud in history, the Washington Post reports. The regulator received repeated warnings from 1999 onwards that Bernard Madoff's investment fund was fishy, but failed to conduct even a routine examination until Madoff blew the...

Madoff Scam Puts Ponzi Back on Front Page

'At least conceptually, he was democratizing wealth': biographer

(Newser) - By now, we’ve all heard Bernard Madoff’s tremendous fraud operation described as a “Ponzi scheme”—which moved the New York Times to revisit history’s famous schemer. Whereas Madoff purported to trade stocks, Charles Ponzi’s con revolved around selling international stamps with outdated exchange rates....

More Banks, Celebs Losers in Madoff Scam

BNP Paribas, RBS join charities of Spielberg, Wiesel as Ponzi victims

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme, which federal investigators say cost investors $50 billion, continues to claim more victims, reports the Wall Street Journal. Spain’s Grupo Santander and France’s BNP Paribas said yesterday they’re on the list, as are charities involving Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and director...

Madoff Scam Soaks Jewish Charities
Madoff Scam Soaks Jewish Charities
Dec 13, 2008 12:08 PM CST

Madoff Scam Soaks Jewish Charities

His Wall Street fraud will wipe out philanthropic groups

(Newser) - Rich investors and hedge funds aren’t the only ones losing their shirts in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Madoff was a giant in the small world of Jewish philanthropy, running millions for a variety of charitable organizations, the Washington Post reports. Deborah Coltin, for example, woke up yesterday to...

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