Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Major Austrian Investor Tied to Madoff Vanishes

Bank Medici founder lost $2.1B, may fear jilted investors

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 7, 2009 1:05 PM CST

(Newser) – Sonja Kohn, the well-known founder of Austria’s Bank Medici, has disappeared from public view, the New York Times reports, after Medici lost investors $2.1 billion in the Bernie Madoff mess. Kohn was a good friend of Madoff’s, and aggressively pushed his wares.... Read full story »

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

You need to Log in to Newser to comment. Don't have an account yet? Sign up now!

There are no comments

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Miami Face-Eater Identified

Chagas Disease the 'New AIDS of the Americas'

New York Times (Source Grid »)

Madoff playing Russian Roulette
TheStreet

Financier's life becomes crazy spy movie
Gawker

Madoff: Delusional or desperate?
National Post

Money • Crime & Courts • World

Austria • Ponzi scheme • Russian oligarchs • Bernard Madoff • Sonja Kohn • Bank Medici

More Newser Stories

Madoff May Have Paid Off Austrian Banker

She's accused of sending him investors' cash, getting kickbacks

(NEWSER) - The head of Bank Medici is being probed by authorities in the US, the UK, and her native Austria over alleged kickbacks she received from Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sonja Kohn is believed to have pocketed $40 million in return for turning three funds she managed into "feeder funds" that funneled $3.5 billion to Madoff. More»

Austrian Madoff 'Victim' Actually Accomplice: Lawsuit

Vienna's Sonja Kohn accused of funneling billions into Ponzi scheme

(NEWSER) - Before the suicide of his son , this was shaping up to be the big Bernie Madoff story of the day: A Vienna banker who once called herself one of the Ponzi scheme's biggest victims may in reality have been Madoff's biggest conspirator. The trustee handling the investigation accuses Sonja Kohn of funneling billions of dollars from European investors Madoff's way in exchange for $62 million in kickbacks that she insisted on receiving in person, report the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal . More»

SEC Not Firing Anyone for Missing Madoff's Scheme

Eight employees got disciplined, however

(NEWSER) - SEC staffers managed to miss Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme for more than a decade despite numerous warnings, but that is apparently not a fireable offense. The agency disciplined eight employees involved in the case, with the most severe punishment being a 30-day suspension coupled with a demotion, reports the Washington Post . The others got a range of lesser penalties, including pay cuts and, in one case, only a "counseling memo." More»

Bernie and I Attempted Suicide: Ruth Madoff

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»

Mets' Owners Won't Lose All Their Madoff Money

Judge gives partial victory to both sides in lawsuit

(NEWSER) - The New York Mets' owners may have to return some of $300 million in profits they made dealing with Bernie Madoff, but their $700 million principal is probably safe. A judge has decided that for trustee Irving Picard to pursue the Mets owners' principal investment, he must prove that they were "willfully blind" to the fraudulent nature of Madoff's enterprise, the Wall Street Journal reports. The ruling could make it harder for Picard to win back large sums from others. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Major Austrian Investor Tied to Madoff Vanishes

Bank Medici founder lost $2.1B, may fear jilted investors

Austria • Ponzi scheme • Russian oligarchs • Bernard Madoff • Sonja Kohn • Bank Medici

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Madoff May Have Paid Off Austrian Banker

She's accused of sending him investors' cash, getting kickbacks

Austrian Madoff 'Victim' Actually Accomplice: Lawsuit

Vienna's Sonja Kohn accused of funneling billions into Ponzi scheme

SEC Not Firing Anyone for Missing Madoff's Scheme

Eight employees got disciplined, however

Bernie and I Attempted Suicide: Ruth Madoff

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

Mets' Owners Won't Lose All Their Madoff Money

Judge gives partial victory to both sides in lawsuit

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?