NEWS ABOUT: Ponzi scheme
Ponzi scheme stories: 195 news briefs
She's accused of sending him investors' cash, getting kickbacks
Wall Street Journal Jul 3, 09 2:59 AM CDT
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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.
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She 'left voluntarily': lawyer
New York Post Jul 2, 09 12:59 PM CDT
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US Marshals seized Ruth Madoff’s $7 million Manhattan penthouse today after she made a deal to give it up last week, the New York Post reports. Madoff “left voluntarily and in an orderly manner to which all sides agreed,” said her lawyer. “We’re not here to load up (the apartment’s contents) today,” said one marshal. “We are here to officially seize the property.”
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Victims can still sue swindler's wife to recoup losses
Newsday Jul 2, 09 11:05 AM CDT
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When she leaves her Manhattan penthouse, Ruth Madoff will have a mere $2.5 million to her name—and she might not have that for long either, Newsday reports. Madoff’s deal with the government—in which she’ll gives up more than $80 million in assets, keeping just the aforementioned cash—doesn’t prevent victims of the Ponzi scheme run by husband Bernard Madoff from suing her.
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Investigator's questions could have exposed Ponzi scheme in 2004
Washington Post Jul 2, 09 5:52 AM CDT
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An SEC investigator whose questions could have exposed Bernard Madoff's fraud in 2004 was shifted to an unrelated case after raising the alarm, the Washington Post reports. One of the supervisors who told the staffer to focus instead on a mutual funds investigation later married Madoff's niece, and the relationship is now being probed by the SEC.
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OPINION
Huffington Post Jul 1, 09 12:09 PM CDT
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Alec Baldwin throws water on the general celebration of Bernie Madoff's prison sentence, arguing that the 150-year term handed down to the fraudster Monday was a wasted opportunity. "I want to suggest, as I am confident others have, that Madoff be given a reduced sentence in exchange for answering every question that investigators ask regarding how he did what he did and what are his recommendations for how this might be detected and/or prevented in the future," the actor writes for the Huffington Post.
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Not enough evidence to nab Bernie's wife in Ponzi scheme
New York Post Jul 1, 09 10:45 AM CDT
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Ruth Madoff won’t be prosecuted in her husband’s giant Ponzi scheme, insiders tell the New York Post, because the feds didn't find enough evidence against her after a 6-month probe. She had “no criminal exposure,” one source says. But if something new turns up, authorities could still pursue her. Meanwhile, another source notes, “she’s lost everything she holds dear” in a deal to sell assets to get cash for victims.
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Merkin unloads art, but buyer's identity a mystery
Wall Street Journal Jul 1, 09 7:53 AM CDT
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Ezra Merkin, the financier who pumped billions of his clients' money into Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, is selling more than 10 paintings by Mark Rothko and two sculptures by Alberto Giacometti for $310 million, reports the Wall Street Journal . Some of the proceeds may go to his defrauded investors, who include charities and nonprofits.
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Associated Press Jun 30, 09 3:10 PM CDT
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A US district judge today revoked bond for Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, who's charged with swindling investors out of $7 billion. David Hittner approved a request by prosecutors to overturn a magistrate judge's decision to allow Stanford freed on $500,000 bond pending his trial. Prosecutors argued that Stanford's international ties make him a serious flight risk.
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ANALYSIS
Bloomberg Jun 30, 09 12:49 PM CDT
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Bernard Madoff’s high profile and long sentence will likely land him in a medium- or high-security prison, Bloomberg reports. Though previous white-collar criminals have spent terms at federal prison “camps,” any sentence longer than 10 years makes an inmate ineligible for that cushy treatment. Insiders also say the risk to Madoff from other inmates means he will be placed in a more controlled environment.
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Source: Disgraced financier may get plenty of company during his century-and-half inside
Associated Press Jun 30, 09 2:44 AM CDT
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At least ten more people are likely to be charged as the probe into Bernard Madoff's massive fraud continues, an insider tells AP. The only other person charged so far has been Madoff's accountant. The source declined to say whether the other people likely to face federal charges are relatives or former employees of the shamed financier, who was slapped with a 150-year sentence yesterday.
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Bernie's wife releases statement on Ponzi schemer
Wall Street Journal Jun 29, 09 12:34 PM CDT
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Ruth Madoff said in a statement today she’s “embarrassed and ashamed” of her husband’s crime, the Wall Street Journal reports—and anyone who believes she’s shown “indifference or lack of sympathy” in her silence has perceived “exactly the opposite of the truth.” “To say that I feel devastated for the many whom my husband has destroyed is truly inadequate,” she notes. “Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused.”
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New York Times Jun 29, 09 9:52 AM CDT
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A federal judge threw the book at Bernie Madoff today, sentencing him to 150 years in prison, the maximum allowed by law in the $65 billion scam. He called Madoff’s crimes “staggering,” and chided him for not doing all he could to help investigators. He added that not one person had sent a letter asking for leniency for the Ponzi schemer, the New York Times reports.
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Washington Times Jun 29, 09 8:52 AM CDT
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The receiver in the R. Allen Stanford case wants seven current and former baseball stars to turn over millions they once invested in Stanford’s alleged Ponzi scheme, intending to divvy up the money among Stanford’s other victims, the Washington Times reports. He’s asking for a combined $9.5 million, an amount that mostly corresponds to the players’ initial investments.
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With $125K to spend yearly, time to trade in the pair of Mercedes
Wall Street Journal Jun 29, 09 8:18 AM CDT
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With just $2.5 million at her disposal as her husband heads to jail, Ruth Madoff won't exactly be sentenced to penury, but she'll have to cut her annual expenses to the low six figures if she wants it to last her lifetime, reports Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal. She should start by trading the two Mercedes in for a SmartCar, and finding a $3,500-a-month rental apartment—modest by Manhattan standards. Or, better, she could move to Florida—farther inland than the Palm Beach spread she's lost—where her dollars will go farther.
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Wall Street Journal Jun 29, 09 4:21 AM CDT
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Investigators have only recovered $1.2 billion of the $13.2 billion bilked from investors by Bernard Madoff since 1995, reports the Wall Street Journal . Eligible victims may be compensated up to $500,000 by the Securities Investor Protection Corp., but the rest will have to come from whatever investigators can find. Trustees say Madoff hasn't provided "meaningful cooperation" to help them locate the vanished loot.
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Wall Street Journal Jun 26, 09 9:11 PM CDT
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Ruth Madoff struck a deal with federal prosecutors today to forfeit nearly $80 million in assets and retain only $2.5 million in cash, the Wall Street Journal reports. The wife of swindler Bernard Madoff reached the agreement with the US attorney's office in Manhattan. Meanwhile, a US judge entered an order of forfeiture against the Ponzi schemer for more than $170 billion.
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CNBC Jun 26, 09 2:23 PM CDT
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Vijay Singh is sticking by embattled buddy and alleged swindler R. Allen Stanford. The star golfer, who's been sporting the Stanford Companies logo even though he no longer gets paid to do so, offered to put up $500,000 of the billionaire’s bail, reports CNBC. He was denied the honor because he is not a US citizen.
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Prosecutors call financier flight risk, ask he be held without bail
Houston Chronicle Jun 25, 09 12:01 PM CDT
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Financier Robert Allen Stanford and three former associates pleaded not guilty today to federal charges they operated a $7 billion Ponzi scheme out of Antigua, the Houston Chronicle reports. Prosecutors asked the judge not to release Stanford, 59, on bail, saying his wealth, international connections and prospect of a long sentence make him a flight risk.
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Ponzi schemer's wife blames paps, of all people, for ruining her life
New York Post Jun 25, 09 10:35 AM CDT
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Ruth Madoff’s life has hit a new low—literally. It's subterranean: The New York Post spotted her on the subway yesterday, seated directly underneath an ad promoting 99-cent cellphones. The disgraced financier's wife, with gray-streaked hair and distinctly unfashionable attire, was not happy with the photographer, asking, “Are you having fun embarrassing me—and ruining my life?”
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ProPublica Jun 23, 09 4:01 PM CDT
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At least one person looks to have benefited more from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff, ProPublica reports. Jeffry Picower, a secretive philanthropist and investor in medical technologies, is on the books as having withdrawn some $5.1 billion in returns from 1995 to 2008, well beyond his original investment. Records show some fishy numbers in Picower’s accounts, and the Madoff trustee has filed a lawsuit against him.
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