Madoff Investor Kills Himself

(NEWSER) - Baseball legend Sandy Koufax has joined the list of Bernie Madoff's victims, the New York Post reports. And the Dodger great isn't even the only pitcher: former Met Tim Teuful is an unwelcome teammate. A complete list of victims in the $50 billion Ponzi scheme was made public today after bankruptcy proceedings for Madoff Securities. To see the 162-page document in PDF form, click on the link below or the one at left. More»

(NEWSER) - The economic crisis isn’t just hurting Wall Street executives—it also spells dark times for the charities they once supported, the Wall Street Journal reports. The number of US nonprofits climbed from about 750,000 a decade ago to more than a million today, but watchers say 100,000 could drop off in the next year. And those that don’t shutter are facing heartbreaking cutbacks. 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»

Swindler was money manager of choice in elite circles

(NEWSER) - Some of America's wealthiest people are finding themselves a lot poorer in the wake of the Bernard Madoff fund scandal, the Wall Street Journal reports. Madoff strived to become known as the investor of choice in elite circles, and counted New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and GMAC chairman Ezra Wilkin among the clients he swindled out of a total that could reach $50 billion. More»

She says she and Bernie tried to kill themselves after story broke

(NEWSER) - Ruth Madoff makes a jarring admission to 60 Minutes, saying she and husband Bernie attempted suicide with pills after his Ponzi scheme unraveled, reports CBS News . "I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening," she tells Morley Safer. "We had terrible phone calls. Hate mail, just beyond anything and I said, '...I just can't go on anymore.'" More»