New York 'Mini-Madoff' Busted

(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»

Another day, another fraud casee

(NEWSER) - A pair of money managers who once co-owned the New York Islanders hockey team have been charged by federal prosecutors with treating $550 million in client investments like their own "personal piggy bank," reports Reuters. Paul Greenwood, 61, and Stephen Walsh, 64, managing general partners of WG Trading Co. in Connecticut, spent a decade blowing up to $550 million of clients' funds on lavish lifestyles, racehorses, mansions and expensive mohair teddy bears, according to federal authorities. More»

$8B scammer's island junkets helped push anti-tax agenda

(NEWSER) - Billionaire R. Allen Stanford has spent millions of dollars in attempting to enlist high-powered Washington officials in his anti-tax efforts, reports the Wall Street Journal. Stanford’s investment companies spent over $5 million on lobbying, $2 million on campaign contributions, and thousands more on flying members of Congress to the Caribbean, where Stanford lives. Many of the legislators do have longstanding interests in the region and have reimbursed him. More»

SEC has slim chance of finding Stanford, missing stash

(NEWSER) - Financier Robert Allen Stanford is now a fugitive and SEC officials don't look any likelier to get their man than his investors do to get their money back, Felix Salmon writes in Portfolio. Regulators have been sniffing around his operations for long enough to ensure he's got a contingency plan already in action, probably involving that missing $8 billion and one of his multiple private jets, Salmon notes. More»

Funds were businessman's first Madoff deal

(NEWSER) - A New York businessman is suing to recover $10 million he handed over to Bernard Madoff 6 days before the alleged Ponzi schemer was arrested, the Wall Street Journal reports. Martin Rosenman wired the funds to a JP Morgan Chase account controlled by Madoff, who told the first-time investor that he would hold the money until next year. While Rosenman is one of many hoping to recover funds, his lawyer says time may be on the Bronx fuel company chief's side. More»