Results tagged “bernardmadoff”

Yesterday, the U.S. Marshals auctioned off the belongings of Bernard and Ruth Madoff—objects as fancy as diamond jewelry and as mundane as stationery—and raked in almost $1 million. Perhaps the most recognizable item for sale, a satin Mets jacket with "MADOFF" embroidered on the back (one of his clients/victims was Mets owner Fred Wilpon), sold for $14,500, well over its $500-720 estimate.

       

Today, Gaston & Sheehan Auctioneers are helping the U.S. Marshals sell of items belonging to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff and his wife Ruth. You can see the various lots here—there's couple's jewelry, clothing knickknacks, and whatever else the Marshals found in their three homes. In other words, it's slightly more high-end than the average yard sale.

Even though Bernard Madoff's Montauk home went for above its asking price, the U.S. Marshals decided to lower the price of the Ponzi schemer's Manhattan penthouse by $1 million to $8.9 million. The U.S. Marshals said, "Based on the current market and out of the better interests for the sale of the property, it was reduced," and Bloomberg News notes it had been on the market for 59 days. The home is a duplex on East 64th Street and neighbors include Matt Lauer—maybe some Wall Street bonus baby will want to trade up to a den of infamy!

David Friehling, who was in charge of auditing Bernard Madoff's billion dollar "business"/Ponzi scheme from a little accounting office in a Rockland County strip mall, pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges for not verifying Bernard Madoff's trades and assets. The 49-year-old said, "At no time was I ever aware Bernard Madoff was engaged in a Ponzi scheme," and said his own family's savings (and kids' college funds)—which is also an SEC violation— were put into Madoff's scheme, while also admitting he took Madoff's records "at face value."

In what's become an SEC tradition, the government agency decided to reveal details of its botched Bernard Madoff investigations late Friday afternoon. The SEC offered up a jailhouse interview with Madoff; the NY Times reports he "said that the young investigators who pestered him over incidentals like e-mail messages should have just checked basics like his account with Wall Street’s central clearinghouse and his dealings with the firms that were supposedly handling his trades," adding, "If you’re looking at a Ponzi scheme, it’s the first thing you do."

Frank DiPascali, the "chief financial officer" for Bernard Madoff Investments, was denied bail by a judge yesterday, in spite of both the defense's and prosecution's arguments that DiPascali was cooperating. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan was skeptical of that, "The only people he could cooperate with are in a prison in Butner or in the bottom of a swimming pool someplace." Ouch!

The Palm Beach medical examiner's office says that Jeffry Picower, who allegedly took in $7 billion from friend Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, died by a drowning that was caused by a massive heart attack. ABC News reports, "[Dr. Michael] Bell told ABC News that the toxicology results will take ten weeks and if there is anything found that could have contributed to Picower's death he will amend the death certificate."

Jeffry Picower, the friend of Bernard Madoff who allegedly saw up to a 950% return on his investments with the Ponzi schemer and was being sued for $7 billions in clawbacks, was found dead in his Palm Beach home. The AP reports, "The Palm Beach Police Department said Picower was found at the bottom of his Palm Beach home's pool Sunday afternoon by his wife and could not be revived by Palm Beach fire rescue workers."

While losses are all too familiar to the Mets, it turns out that the organization made a bit from two accounts invested with Bernard Madoff. The NY Times reports, based on court filings, "Mets LP, one of the team’s financial arms, withdrew $570.5 million from two accounts it held with Madoff’s company, $47.8 million more than it put in."

First, he was making friends with the gay inmates. Next, he's got into a fight with another old inmate. Now, in the latest installment from the unofficial Post series "The Prison Life and Times of Bernard Madoff," we learn that the Ponzi king "now shares a cell with a 21-year-old inmate convicted of drug crimes...sleeps in the lower bunk and he eats pizza cooked by an inmate convicted of child molestation" and his "recreation consists of walking around the prison track at night."

Irving Picard, the trustee in charge of liquidating Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff's assets, now says many other people—not just Madoff's CFO Frank DiPascali—were involved with perpetrating the scheme. The NY Times reports, "According to a court document filed late on Friday, other longtime Madoff employees were in charge of managing 245 accounts for Madoff friends and family, and for them at least a few of the reported trades actually occurred."

While Bernie is busy making new friends in federal prison, the U.S. Marshals have announced that the deal on Madoff's Montauk home is officially closed. And the final selling price is $650,000 over the asking price! The $9.4 million deal was made back in September, but the Government was not allowed to reveal the final selling price until after the deal closed. Pamela Liebman, Corcoran CEO, told ABC News "Buyers were extremely enthusiastic about the location of the house and its potential and not at all put off by the fact that it was Bernie Madoff's house." Because really, look at that view!

Mark Madoff may have been sued for taking an estimated $66+ million, thanks to his dad Bernie's massive Ponzi scheme—but he's still got enough cash to pay for a night at the SoHo Grand. According to the Post, Madoff spent the night there after getting into a "bitter" fight with his wife, who eventually called the police because she was worried about his disappearance!

The Post has another story about Ponzi king Bernard Madoff's life at the Butner Correctional Complex! Unlike its earlier report that the 71-year-old was making friends with the homosexual inmates, participating in Native American sweat lodge ceremonies, and dying of cancer, this one says Madoff got physical...over the stock market.

ABC News reports that Richard Zabel, "the new chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan," has recused himself from the Bernard Madoff investigation "because his father represents one of the potential targets." Zabel's dad's client is Jeffrey Picower, who allegedly took $7.2 billion from Madoff's fraud. One lawyer said, "[The feds] have been dragging their feet and have not shown an appetite for going after others who may have helped Madoff devise the scheme."

Hindsight is 20/20: The NY Times reports the country's "largest independent securities regulator found that its staff members had missed numerous red flags that would have uncovered frauds run by Bernard L. Madoff and the Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford." Apparently the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s "predecessor, NASD, did not act from 2003 to 2005 on 'credible information from at least five different sources claiming that the Stanford C.D.’s were a potential fraud.'" While no whistleblowers specifically contacted Finra about Madoff (the SEC was warned), Finra did find " several facts worthy of inquiry...that, with the benefit of hindsight, should have been pursued."

The trustee in charge of liquidating Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff's assets, filed a lawsuit against Madoff's two sons, brother and his brother's daughter for $199 million in ill-gotten gains from the multi-billion dollar fraud. Irving Picard said the relatives used money from Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities like a "a family piggy bank."

Uh oh, it's bad luck to walk under a Ponzi schemer! Chinese artist Chen Wenling has created this sculptured masterpiece entitled "What You See Might Not Be Real" (or as we like to call it: MadBull). Yes, that man pinned to the wall is jailed financier Bernard Madoff. The piece is currently on display at a gallery in Beijing, China, but we have high hopes that one day it will take the place of the Wall Street Bull.

Invest $2 million and grow it to nearly $4 million in 8 years—that's what one investor in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme did. Of course, all that disappeared last December, where the fraud was revealed. The fight to compensate Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme victims will drag on for a while, so until then, we're going to get stories from victims. New York Magazine indulges with some of them this week.

Irving Picard, the trustee who is liquidating whatever can be found of Ponzi king Bernard Madoff's fortune for in order to repay his thousands of victims, says that he's going to sue Madoff's two sons, Mark and Andrew, as well as his brother Peter and niece Shana, noting that they made $150 million over the years. All four were employed at Madoff's firm and Picard said he'll sue them for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, "Whether or not they have a criminal problem we will pursue them as far as we can pursue them and if that leads to bankrupting them, then that's what will happen."

Once a victim of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, alway a victim of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, but even the people trying to figure out the victims' claims are messing up: A laptop containing "names, addresses, Social Security numbers and some Madoff account information on 2,246 investors" was stolen from a car.

We guess there is a sucker born every minute. The brokers handling the sale of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff's Montauk beach house say they've sold the property for over its $8.75 million asking price. The house is right on the beach (on 1.2 acres) with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, but it's not an over-the-top marble palace either. One commercial broker had told the Times a few weeks ago, "They're not going to get 7, not in this environment. If they get 5.5, they should take the money and run."

For your listening pleasure: The Massachusetts Secretary of State's office released audio (after the jump) of Bernard Madoff telling hedge fund Fairfield Greenwich chief risk officer Amit Vijayvergiya in 2005 how to deal with the SEC when they might come snooping around, "You know, you don't have to be too brilliant with these guys, because you don't have to be." First rule of Bernie's Ponzi Club: You do not know about the Ponzi Club. Madoff said Fairfield Greenwich shouldn't worry about how he operated, "You don't want to have that information because ... the commission, when they ask questions, they try and draw out information. The less that you know how we execute ... the better you are." He recommended saying that since he's been around for 45 years, he's essentially totally trustworthy! Madoff added, "They ask you a zillion different questions and we look at them sometimes and we laugh, and we say, 'Are you guys writing a book?'" And he says of needing to deal with another phone call, "I'm sorry. If I get any more solicitations for charity, I'm going to kill myself."

                  

Last week, the U.S. Marshals Service put Ponzi king Bernard Madoff's Montauk beach house on the market for $8.75 million—and now his Upper East Side penthouse duplex is officially for sale too. The apartment was seized in July and the Post reports it's on sale "for $7.5 million or more" with "its contents — expensive and otherwise — [to] be separately auctioned off."

Ruth Madoff may have signed a deal with the feds, giving up her homes and assets in exchange for $2.5 million, but does that mean she can keep a property tax rebate check for one of those homes? According to the Palm Beach Post, since the Madoffs' Palm Beach mansion was overvalued, the couple was issued a $13,800 rebate: "Ruth Madoff recently sent the uncashed refund check back to Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, with a letter dated Aug. 23 asking that it be reissued in her name alone." A Florida tax law expert, Richard Rampelli, surmised, "She wants to have unfettered access to the money, clearly." Hey, Metrocards are expensive! Her attorney claims that the money will go "where it is supposed to go" and points out she is "obliged to assist the government in recovering any covered assets," but Rampelli thinks she could have just given the check to the government to deal with. At any rate, the check will not be reissued in Ruth's name alone—Palm Beach County Tax Collector "said the law requires her to write rebate checks to whoever paid the original bill - and in this case, both Madoffs' names were on the original check."

Last week, the U.S. Marshals Service put Ponzi king Bernard Madoff's beachfront Montauk property up for sale at a cool $8.75 million. And apparently, seeing the four-bedroom, three bath home has been the thing to do this weekend—at least that's what the NY Times Styles section says. There was a Russian-accented man overheard saying, "Put us in for $7 million," only for his wife to say, "I don’t know what he’s doing. We live in a house twice this size with a nice view. We’re going to come here with kids, two dogs, everything else?" (The broker told the Times the man, an old client, was just joking.) Among the onlookers were Beastie Boy Ad Rock's sister who mentioned that Ruth Madoff's shoes were for sale and soap opera actor Vincent Irrizary who thought, "I’d like to buy [Madoff's] shoes, glue them to a canvas, say something artistically about the man who walked in those shoes." A commercial real estate broker opined, "They're not going to get 7, not in this environment. If they get 5.5, they should take the money and run." The broker's commission is being donated back to the fund for Madoff's victims.

After offering a summary of how it bungled six warnings about Bernard Madoff's amazing investment firm, the Securities and Exchange Commission released the full 477 opus on its failings (PDF) last night. The Wall Street Journal reports on one glaring misstep, when in May 2003, an unnamed hedge-fund manager basically told an SEC examiner "that Mr. Madoff's self-described trading strategy didn't add up. The manager said the strategy wasn't duplicated by anyone else in the market, Mr. Madoff's accounts were in cash at month end, and there was 'always replacement capital,'" even saying, "These could be 'indicia of a Ponzi scheme" When the SEC investigated months later, it only focused on front-running and not on things like why there wasn't enough market volume for Madoff's trading strategy—and it didn't verify Madoff's trades through a third party either. Also, another hedge fund, Renaissance, was skeptical of Madoff's finances, but didn't tell the SEC because it assumed the SEC was keeping tabs on Bernie! A Renaissance portfolio manager wrote in 2003 internal e-mail, "Throw in that his brother-in-law is his auditor and his son is also high up in the organization and you have the risk of some nasty allegations."

The Inspector General for the Securities and Exchange Commission said the agency failed to conduct "competent and thorough" investigations about Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, even after at least six warnings. IG David Kotz wrote in his report, "Despite numerous credible and detailed complaints, the SEC never properly examined or investigated Madoff’s trading and never took the necessary, but basic, steps to determine if Madoff was operating a Ponzi scheme," adding that even Madoff himself was "shocked" that the SEC didn't check his trading records, which would have revealed the $65 billion fraud.

Now we can all stop wondering what the husband of Sheryl Weinstein, the woman wrote a book about her alleged affair with Bernard Madoff, thinks. While his wife has been titillating/grossing people out with details (his mini-Madoff was really mini; he was a good kisser), Ron Weinstein isn't thrilled but points out to The Daily Beast, "Half the [book] profits are mine." He says that he did try to talk his wife out of writing the book and says about their future, "I have a commitment and I’m not going to leave her hanging out there. I’ll wait a few months, let my emotions calm down and then I’ll see if I can forgive. Having an affair is not the end of the world, but writing a book and telling everybody about it is unacceptable.... Affairs are commonplace and shouldn’t be such a big deal. However, having an affair with the person who is the biggest crook in the world and stole all my assets is another issue entirely.” That's right—Sheryl Weinstein invested all her family's money with Madoff so they are wiped out.

          

The Associated Press got a tour of Bernard Madoff's Montauk beach home and breaks the news: "Those who see Bernard Madoff as an evil purveyor of excess might be disappointed by his beach house: It's not that palatial." However, the U.S. Marshals Service says the house will be listed for $8.75 million, over $5 million more than what Madoff said the house was worth.