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The Long Island Madoff

2009_01_agape.jpg The feds say that Long Island investment broker Nicholas Cosmo ran a $370 million Ponzi scheme from his offices in Hauppauge and Queens. And what's more, he "lost $80 million of his clients' money playing the commodities market and paid an additional $55 million in commissions to associates," not to mention personal things ("jewelry, hotel rooms, limousines, payments to his wife and a private baseball league") and the feds say they could only locate $800,000 of the $370 million, according to Newsday. In Cosmo's scam, 1010 WINS explains he told investors they'd "make returns as high as 80 percent a year from interest collected on short-term loans to businesses" but the "returns" they received was "actually money provided by subsequent investors." Yup, that's a Ponzi scheme! Newsday also reports that today, "Worried Agape World investors turned up at the company's offices in Hauppauge and Jackson Heights Monday but found empty offices and a federal raid in progress."

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Comments [rss]

  • Future Taliban

    The Long Island Madoff, the Bronx Madoff, the Queens Madoff, the S.I. Madoff, the Jersey Madoff, the Philly Madoff, the Californian Madoff...

    (just tell me when to stop, OK?)

  • Think2wice

    Ay yo, no more lap dances for Cosmo at Baddabing's, because Agape left their clients...agape.

  • Mr Mel

    Only $370 Million, he'll barely get his 15 minutes. Bad timing.

  • snoopydog

    Wait. They haven't shown pictures of his grieving wife yet.

  • jpeditor

    And he isn't even Jewish - what up?

  • fakenewyorker

    agape as in the unselfish love of jesus or your fellow brethren and sistren.

    ironic.

  • snoopydog

    Only 80% a year? Come on Agape. I can get a better return with the money I lend to the mob.

  • moocowtoo

    I think that is his porn name.

  • Rfive

    The name is Agape? Really? You can't make this stuff up.

    His mouth was agape when he saw the news about his $500K investments.

  • Steve Cruz

    I think "Agape" is actually the christian term for holy love pronounced "uh-gah-pay." But "a-gape," as in jaws dropped in horror, goes up there on the shelf next to made-off.

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