Big Names Bilked in $50B 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 the hedge fund capital of Greenwich has expressed sympathy for Noel, Madoff's biggest known loser—others question his firm's failure to perform due diligence on Madoff's suspiciously steady returns. More»

Steady returns, tiny auditors prompted questions

(NEWSER) - Bernard Madoff's investment operation—found this week to be a massive Ponzi scheme that lost as much as $50 billion—raised plenty of red flags over the last decade, the Wall Street Journal reports. As far back as 1999, Madoff’s steady returns in wide-ranging markets seemed unrealistic to some observers, and at least one tried to blow the whistle. “Madoff Securities is the world's largest Ponzi Scheme,” a rival wrote to the SEC that year. More»

Bankruptcy trustee says fraudster's wife received more than she'll admit to

(NEWSER) - The trustee in the Bernie Madoff case sued the swindler's wife today to demand the return of $44 million to bilked investors, Newsday reports. The complaint doesn't allege criminal activity by Ruth Madoff but says she directly received funds from her husband’s multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Ruth Madoff gave up all but $2.5 million of her assets in a forfeiture deal last month, but she's not protected from lawsuits. More»

(NEWSER) - A high-flying New York lawyer who orchestrated a Ponzi scheme to fund his lavish lifestyle has been sentenced to 20 years in jail, the New York Times reports. Marc Dreier pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and securities fraud relating to the scam, which bilked hedge funds and other investors of some $400 million. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 145 years, just 5 years short of the 150 years Bernard Madoff was slapped with. More»

(NEWSER) - Operators of so-called feeder funds withdrew $12 billion from Bernie Madoff's accounts in the year before his arrest, nearly half of it in the final three months, reports the New York Times. The analysis of financial records offers hope that defrauded investors will be able to recoup at least some of their money. The trustee handling the Madoff bankruptcy filed two lawsuits today to regain $6 billion from two funds that worked closely with the financier. More»