fraud

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NYC Art Dealer Charged With $88M Fraud

(Newser) - A New York art dealer was charged today with stealing $88 million in investments and artwork in what may be an art-world Ponzi scheme, the Times reports. Investors and collectors say they entrusted Lawrence Salander with funds or artwork after the dealer promised hefty returns. In many cases, they were...

Investors Hire Gumshoes to Snoop on Fund Managers

Fraud schemes prove boon to private eyes

(Newser) - Investors are increasingly hiring private investigators to dig up dirt on fund managers in hopes of avoiding the next Madoff-style fraud, Bloomberg reports. Background checks are expensive—depending on the firm, they may cost $1,000 per company or individual investigated—and can take weeks, but investors say they are...

Congo Con Joins Madoff Victims' Chorus ... Sorta

Standard 'foreign investment' scam email made it past US Attorney's office

(Newser) - The federal prosecutors collecting testimonials from victims of Bernard Madoff for the judge slated to sentence him don’t appear to have been too discerning, Josh Marshall reports for Talking Points Memo, after a standard-issue “African businessman” spam email made it into the pile. And though the promised $3....

Judge Denies Madoff's Bail Appeal

Fraudster will wait in jail until June sentencing

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today denied Bernard Madoff’s request to be released on bail until his June sentencing date, the New York Daily News reports. “The defendant’s age and exposure to imprisonment are undisputed, and the court did not err in inferring an incentive to flee from...

Madoff Accountant Faces 105 Years for Fraud

He signed off on false books for years: feds

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff's longtime accountant has been arrested and charged with securities fraud in the $64 billion Ponzi scheme, the New York Post reports. David Friehling, 49, is accused of helping Madoff dupe his investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission by filing fake audits. Friehling allegedly received $186,000 annually...

Lawyer: Send Madoff Home
 Lawyer: Send Madoff Home  
Mar 13, 2009 3:38 PM CDT

Lawyer: Send Madoff Home

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff's lawyers appeared in court today to ask that the confessed Ponzi schemer be returned to his $7 million penthouse to await June sentencing on fraud charges. Federal prosecutors must now file a response and await an appeals court ruling, meaning the 70-year-old felon will spend at least the...

Ponzi Victims Will Be Tax Nightmare for IRS

Service expects to refund $7-$10 billion in taxes paid on fake income

(Newser) - The work of fraudsters such as Bernie Madoff and R. Allen Stanford will complicate the IRS’ job as tens of the thousands of victims attempt to reclaim taxes paid on income that went up in smoke, Time reports. The IRS estimates that refunds due victims to Madoff alone could total...

Madoff Jail Won't Be as Bad as Shawshank: Expert

(Newser) - The next big question for Bernie Madoff: Just how bad will prison be? It’s unlikely the disgraced financier will get cushy Club Fed accommodations, CNNMoney reports. Ed Bales, a consultant who prepares inmates for jail, says such facilities were shut down years ago. But Madoff can take heart, he...

Judge Orders 'Ashamed' Madoff to Jail on Guilty Plea

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty this morning to all 11 felony charges against him, saying he was "sorry and ashamed" for his criminal acts. The judge accepted the plea and revoked Madoff's bail, bringing cheers from spectators in the courtroom. Madoff was escorted out in handcuffs and will remain in...

Court May Tell Madoff to Go Directly to Jail

Ponzi master to plead guilty today, bail could be revoked

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff will head to court today to plead guilty to all 11 charges against him, and there’s every chance he won’t be going home afterward, the New York Times reports. The big question hanging over today’s hearing is whether the court will revoke Madoff’s bail....

Trader's $400M Loss Behind Merrill's London 'Irregularity'

(Newser) - A rogue Merrill Lynch trader appears to have posted some $400 million in undisclosed losses in recent months, the Financial Times reports, covering his tracks with the “irregularity” the firm’s London branch is currently investigating. Alexis Stenfors, now suspended, reported $120 million in gains in 2008’s fourth...

Madoff May Plead Guilty
 Madoff May Plead Guilty 
updated
Mar 6, 2009 11:03 AM CST

Madoff May Plead Guilty

Lawyers indicate that a plea deal is pending

(Newser) - Prosecutors filed court papers today indicating Bernard Madoff may be ready to plead guilty to charges arising from one of the biggest financial frauds in history. Madoff, 70, is scheduled for court twice next week, including a Tuesday appearance to waive any potential conflicts of interest involving his lawyer and...

Doubt Cast on $50B Figure in Madoff Case

Insiders think real losses closer to $20B; no one really knows

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff and $50 billion. His name and that number have become inseparable in describing the enormity of what has been called the largest white-collar fraud in history. Investigators claim Madoff himself told them that he stole $50 billion, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the number may be...

Facebook Identity Cops Diss Real Yodas, Batmans

(Newser) - Facebook has a thing against funny names, particularly if they’re actually yours, the Washington Post reports. Caitlin Shaw, who wanted to add her maiden name, Batman, to her profile, endured weeks of back-and-forth emails, while Starkiller Unleashed sails through. Facebook says it scrutinizes the real applicants because they are...

'Rockefeller' Fights False Name Charges

Con man just gave cops name he'd used for 15 years: defense

(Newser) - The con man who went by “Clark Rockefeller” attempted today to dismiss charges he gave police a fake name when arrested last year, the Boston Globe reports. Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter told police arresting him for absconding with his 7-year-old daughter that he was Clark Rockefeller—as he had told...

Mandela's Ex Poised for Return to Power

Critics none too pleased by new role for ex-convict Winnie

(Newser) - Placed high on her party’s list of future MPs, Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is set to return to a central role in South Africa’s government, the Guardian reports. Such a position is already sparking controversy surrounding Madikizela-Mandela's past—including a 2003 fraud conviction when she was...

SEC Overlooked Stanford Fraud in 2003

Former employee warned agency, others of 'Ponzi scheme'

(Newser) - A former employee of Sir Allen Stanford warned the SEC in 2003 of an “illegal Ponzi scheme” involving his firms, but regulators brushed off the allegations, the Financial Times reports. The whistleblower also told another regulatory body that one of Stanford’s companies was “engaged in a Ponzi...

Feds: Florida Prof Scammed NASA for $3.4M

Research cash blown on cars, condos, charge court filings

(Newser) - Federal agents have seized the property of a University of Florida professor accused of shuttling millions in NASA grants into his family's bank accounts, the Houston Chronicle reports. Nuclear scientist Samim Anghaie, who has worked on developing fuels for future Mars missions, submitted "multiple fraudulent certified contract proposals to...

FBI Arrests High-Ranking Stanford Exec

Investment officer faces SEC obstruction charges

(Newser) - FBI agents have arrested the chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group, accusing Laura Pendergest-Holt of obstructing an SEC fraud investigation. The SEC has been investigating allegations of an $8 billion investment fraud involving Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford's financial group. Pendergest-Holt, arrested in Houston, will appear in court tomorrow....

Wiesel: Put 'Psychopath' Madoff in Prison

(Newser) - Author and Nazi hunter Elie Wiesel, who lost $15.2 million in foundation money and a good chunk of his own fortune to Bernie Madoff, railed today against the “psychopath” financier, the New York Post reports. “He should be put in a solitary cell with a screen, and...

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