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Please help to get my car back :
( On July 21, 2009 my car was impounded (not by police), but by the
Dutch IRS, for failing to hand-over trumped up tax charges which my
small business could have never earned, according to my filed tax
deductions. In addition the bank account of my small business has been
impounded by the IRS as well. An important part of my business
activities involves the use of my car. The impoundment of my car can
only be explained as an outrageous attempt by the IRS to shutdown my
business by force, without a valid and sane reason.
It can be compared to those EXACTIONS reported only to happen in former
overseas colonies like India and Indonesia. The difference being that
today such exactions have moved into Western Europe and America as well
, the home countries of these old style colonialists themselves. My
conclusion is that today the old style Colonialist has started to
devour his own home country and town, through abuse of power of IRS
officials and police. )
 
For me PayPal doesn't seem to fulfill its purpose, which is collecting donations

When closing my PayPal account
my saldo was USD $1.62
on Mar 9, 2011. This is quite impossible
as since July 21, 2009 not a single
transaction has occurred on
my PayPal account.




"THE MADOFF CHRONICLES"

©2008 BLOOMBERG.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


Madoff's World, Madoff with Norman F. Levy on the older man's yacht. In this 1993 file photo, Richard Grasso of the New Stock Exchange, left, ex-SEC chief David S. Ruder, center, and Bernard Madoff appear before a House panel. (AP Photo)














Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:30:35 +0100 (CET)
From: "Robert M. Stockmann" 
To: stewwebb@sierranv.net, skolnick@ameritech.net, tom2@tomflocco.com, 
     too@slingshot.co.nz, timrifat@rvscience.com, shanktalk@yahoo.com, 
     wmreditor@waynemadsenreport.com, stefangrossmann@t-online.de, 
     palast@gregpalast.com, henry@savethemales.ca, 
     leurenmoret@yahoo.com, prophecy@texemarrs.com, 
     mike@radioactivetalk.com, smith@iamthewitness.com, 
     eric@iamthewitness.com, ognir2@gmail.com, prothink@yahoo.com, 
     captainmay@prodigy.net, tarpley@tarpley.net, 
     takingaim@pacbell.net, eirns@larouchepub.com, 
     info@larouchepac.com, webmaster@rense.com, articles@davidicke.com, 
     chamish@netvision.net.il, michaelcollinspiper1960@yahoo.com, 
     crescentandcross@gmail.com, Tillawi@currentissues.tv, 
     tips@infowars.com, cloak.dagger@gmail.com, lennybloom@gmail.com, 
     eric@vaticanassassins.org, email@spirituallysmart.com, 
     deadlinelive@yahoo.com>, vyzygoth@hotmail.com, 
     alanwattcuttingthrough@yahoo.com
Subject: "THE MADOFF CHRONICLES" (C)BLOOMBERG.COM
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: RO


Hi,

Below is the coverage by bloomberg.com on the Maddoff tragedy. The 
first story is interesting as it makes mention of Madoff's Niece who 
married with a SEC official (Assistent Director Examinations SEC, no
less) a year ago......

   "Madoff's niece, Shana, was a compliance lawyer at his firm and 
    last year married Eric Swanson, a former assistant director of 
    compliance and examinations at the SEC. "

Well ..... As a good Dutch saying goes : Never _ever_ allow IRS/SEC
types into your house (unless at gunpoint), let alone marry them ....
Here's another ludricous remark :

   "Madoff, 70, was arrested Dec. 11 after he told his sons Bernard
    L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC was a giant Ponzi scheme,
    the SEC said. "

Since when would telling your sons a story get yourself arrested ?? 
Hence my premature conclusion is simple : The Madoff Chronicles Spin is 
exactly what it is : A ludricous diversion to hide someone elses budd.  

Then again, a couple of reporters at bloomberg's wrote countless numbers
of lines on Madoff, who i would like to notify here of their Miranda 
rights :

    You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and 
    will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right 
    to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot 
    afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you 
    understand these rights?

So here are the :

    THE MADOFF CHRONICLES
    (C)2008 BLOOMBERG.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
    ---------------------------------------------------------------

SEC Probes of Madoff are Deeply Troubling, Cox Says (Update2) 
=============================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5SbwJUi617M&refer=home

    By Jesse Westbrook
    
    Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 
    Chairman Christopher Cox called for a probe of his agency, 
    saying what he has learned about its investigations of Bernard 
    Madoff before the investment manager confessed to operating a 
    $50 billion Ponzi scheme is deeply troubling. 
    
    "Credible and specific allegations" were made to SEC staff going 
    back to at least 1999, Cox said today in a statement. He asked 
    the agencys inspector general to lead a "full and immediate" 
    review of the past claims against Madoff. 
    
    "I am gravely concerned by the apparent multiple failures over at 
    least a decade to thoroughly investigate these allegations or at 
    any point to seek formal authority to pursue them," Cox said. 
    
    Madoff, 70, was arrested Dec. 11 after he told his sons Bernard 
    L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC was a giant Ponzi scheme, 
    the SEC said. Clients facing losses range from a Fairfield, 
    Connecticut, pension fund to hedge funds and New York Mets owner 
    Fred Wilpons Sterling Equities Inc. 
    
    "This is an incredible statement for the chairman of the SEC to 
    make," James Cox, a securities law professor at Duke University 
    in Durham, North Carolina, said in an interview. "I can recall 
    nothing that rivals this in the history of the SEC in terms of 
    condemnation for how the staff had handled an investigation." Cox 
    isnt related to the SEC chairman. 
    
    The Republican chairman said Inspector General H. David Kotzs 
    probe will look into the agencys internal policies and whether 
    they should be improved. The investigation will also include a 
    review of all SEC contact with "the Madoff family and firm," Cox 
    said. 
    
    Madoff's Niece
    
    Madoff's niece, Shana, was a compliance lawyer at his firm and 
    last year married Eric Swanson, a former assistant director of 
    compliance and examinations at the SEC. Swanson left the agency 
    in August 2006 and is currently the general counsel of Bats 
    Trading Inc., the third-largest U.S. equity exchange by trading 
    volume. 

    "Eric Swanson worked at the SEC for 10 years and did not 
    participate in any inquiry of Bernard Madoff Securities or its 
    affiliates while involved in a relationship with Shana, whom he 
    met through her trade association work," Bats Trading spokesman 
    Randy Williams said in an e-mailed statement. "Throughout his 
    career, Eric has displayed the highest ethical standards and his 
    reputation has been, and continues to be, above reproach."
    
    Madoff sometimes consulted with the SEC on how to regulate 
    markets and sat on a panel of academics, regulators and 
    executives formed in 2000 to give the agency advice on new stock 
    market rules in response to the growth of electronic trading. 
    
    Personal Contacts
    
    Cox said SEC staff members who had "more than insubstantial"
    personal contacts with Madoff will be barred from participating 
    in the SEC's current investigation of him and his firm. 
    
    The SEC hadn't inspected Madoff's investment advisory business 
    since he registered the firm with the agency in September 2006, 
    two people familiar with the matter said. SEC examiners reviewed 
    Madoff's brokerage business in 2005 after an employee at an 
    investment firm and press reports questioned the validity of his 
    stated returns. 
    
    The regulator's enforcement division completed a probe involving 
    Madoff's company last year without bringing a claim. Cox, not 
    referring to any specific investigation, said the staff never 
    sought subpoena power to examine Madoff and instead relied on 
    voluntary information provided by him and his firm. 
    
    False Documents
    
    SEC investigators have been working around the clock to examine 
    records at Madoffs company since his arrest last week. The probe 
    to date indicates that he kept several sets of books and false 
    documents and lied to investors and regulators about his 
    business, Cox said. 
    
    The inspector general's review will help determine "what, if any, 
    policy failures occurred" Steve Adamske, a spokesman for House 
    Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, said in an 
    interview today. Frank is a Massachusetts Democrat. 

    Kotz has released reports this year critical of the agency's 
    conduct. He said in one examination that the SEC "failed to carry 
    out its oversight" of Bear Stearns Cos., the investment bank that 
    faced collapse in March before selling itself to JPMorgan Chase 
    & Co. He's also questioned the enforcement staffs' handling of 
    investigations. 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Westbrook in 
    Washington at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 16, 2008 20:43 EST 

    
Fairfield Sent Madoff $7.3 Billion as Funds Took Fees (Update2)
================================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=aXFye9Hn8F1w

    
    By Katherine Burton
    
    Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Walter Noel's Fairfield Greenwich Group 
    would have collected about $135 million in fees this year for 
    peddling Bernard Madoffs investing acumen to clients from South 
    America, the Middle East and Asia. 
    
    The $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Fund invested solely with 
    Madoff, taking a cut of 1 percent of assets and 20 percent of 
    gains, which averaged about 11 percent annually in the past 15 
    years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tremont Group 
    Holdings Inc. had $3.3 billion in Madoff accounts, according to 
    a person familiar with the matter. They were among at least 15 
    hedge-fund firms and private banks that earned fees for sending 
    customers cash to the 70-year-old money manager. 
    
    Its mind-boggling that people like Tremont and Fairfield 
    Greenwich had been doing this for so long, said Brad Alford, who 
    runs Alpha Capital Management LLC in Atlanta, which helps 
    clients choose hedge funds. Its the job of these funds of funds 
    to be doing due diligence. Thats why they get paid. 
    
    Madoff was arrested Dec. 11 after he allegedly confessed to 
    running a giant Ponzi scheme that may have bilked investors of 
    $50 billion. That fraud escaped the notice of Fairfield 
    Greenwich, Tremont and other funds of funds that had at least 
    $20.3 billion invested with Madoff. Hedge-fund investment 
    adviser Aksia LLC said the managers should have seen red flags, 
    such as Madoffs use of a little-known, three-person auditing 
    firm. 
    
    Fund Fees
    
    Hedge funds that have disclosed holdings with Madoff were due at 
    least $352 million in fees this year, based on reported assets, 
    fees and Bloomberg data. The calculations dont include fees of 
    as much as 5 percent that clients paid for some funds when they 
    first invested. Madoff didnt assess fees for his 
    money-management services, getting paid instead through 
    commissions from his brokerage business for trading the stocks 
    in the accounts. 
    
    Investors ensnared by Madoff include Fred Wilpon, the owner of 
    the New York Mets baseball team, clients of private bankers in 
    Geneva, wealthy Jewish families in New York and Palm Beach, 
    Florida, and institutions including BNP Paribas SA in Paris that 
    loaned investors money to increase their bets. Losses have been 
    reported by a pension fund in Fairfield, Connecticut, New York 
    hospitals and a charity in Salem, Massachusetts. 
    
    Investor Defections
    
    While Madoff didnt run a hedge fund, his alleged crime may 
    accelerate investor defections from the $1.5 trillion industry, 
    already hit by its worst losses since at least 1990 and 
    redemptions that may reach $400 billion this year, according to 
    estimates by Morgan Stanley. In a Ponzi scheme, returns to early 
    investors are paid with money from later ones, until there isnt 
    enough cash to go around. Madoffs alleged scam unraveled when he 
    received $7 billion in redemption requests that he couldnt meet. 
    
    Funds of hedge funds such as Fairfield Greenwich act as 
    middlemen, raising money from investors and farming it out to 
    other managers that they vet. The go-betweens manage 44 percent 
    of hedge-fund assets, according to data compiled by Hedge Fund 
    Research Inc. Their investments lost 19 percent on average 
    through November, a little more than a percentage point more 
    than single-manager funds, the Chicago-based firm says. 
    
    Institutions including New York States $154 billion retirement 
    system and the endowment of Baylor University have been cutting 
    back their investments in funds of funds to save the extra layer 
    of fees -- generally 1 percent of assets and 10 percent of 
    profits -- that they charge on top of the underlying managers 
    take. Last year, for the first time, more than half of the 
    hedge-fund assets of the 200 largest U.S. pension plans were 
    invested directly with individual managers, according to data 
    compiled by Pensions & Investments magazine. 
    
    Due Diligence
    
    Funds of funds say they earn their fees by discovering the best 
    managers and assembling a diversified group of investments. They 
    also are supposed to conduct ongoing due diligence to avoid 
    frauds or other dangers, such as managers straying from their 
    core investment strategy. 
    
    Fairfield Greenwich is the biggest loser to emerge so far from 
    the Madoff scandal. It had more than half its $14.1 billion in 
    assets with him, according to a company statement. 
    
    We are shocked and appalled by the news, said founding partner 
    Jeffrey Tucker in a Dec. 12 statement. Tucker was an attorney in 
    the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange 
    Commission before starting Fairfield Greenwich with Noel in 
    1983. Thomas Mulligan, a spokesman for Fairfield Greenwich, 
    declined to comment. 
    
    Family Business
    
    Noel built a marketing machine that covered the globe. His 
    son-in-law, Yanko Della Schiava, is based in Lugano, 
    Switzerland, and is responsible for selling Fairfield Greenwich 
    funds in Southern Europe, according to the firms Web site. 
    Another son- in-law, Andres Piedrahita, is head of Fairfield 
    Greenwichs European and Latin American businesses and is based 
    in London and Madrid. A third son-in-law, Philip Toub, markets 
    the groups funds in Brazil and the Middle East. 
    
    Three months ago, the firm acquired Banque Benedict Hentsch, a 
    deal that the Swiss private bank said today it has reversed. 
    
    Tremont, founded by Sandra Manzke in 1985, also was an early 
    Madoff investor. The Rye, New York-based firm, a unit of 
    Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.s OppenheimerFunds Inc., 
    sold Madoff-managed investments since 1997 under the Rye Select 
    Broad Market name, charging 2 percent of assets, according to a 
    marketing document. 
    
    Tremonts Rye Investment Management unit had $3.1 billion, or 
    virtually all its assets, invested with Madoff, said the person, 
    who declined to be identified because the information is 
    private. Tremont had another $200 million invested through its 
    fund of funds group. 
    
    A spokesman for Tremont declined to comment. 
    
    Wealthy Clients
    
    Manzke now runs Darien, Connecticut-based MAXAM Capital 
    Management LLC, which marketed a $280 million fund that was 
    invested solely with Madoff. Manzke told the Wall Street Journal 
    she was wiped out. Manzke didnt return calls or e-mails. 
    
    Another Madoff investor is London-based FIM Ltd., whose Kingate 
    Europe and Kingate Global funds had about $3.5 billion in assets 
    as of the end of November, according to reports sent to clients. 
    The firm, run by Carlo Grosso, marketed the funds to many 
    wealthy Italian families. Kingate collected a 5 percent fee to 
    get into the funds and a management fee of 1.5 percent of 
    assets. 
    
    Access International Advisors LLC, a New York-based investment 
    firm, charged a 5 percent fee up front, a 0.8 percent management 
    fee and a 16 percent performance fee on its LUXALPHA 
    SICAV-American Selection fund, according to Bloomberg data. 
    Bank Fees 
    
    Spains largest bank, Banco Santander, said its clients invested 
    with Madoff through its Optimal Strategic U.S. Equity fund. 
    Those investors paid 2.15 percent of assets in fees. 
    
    Swiss private banks also sent money to Madoff. Union Bancaire 
    Privee, the largest investor in hedge funds, had a managed 
    account called M-Invest that was a direct conduit into Madoff, 
    people familiar with the situation said. Benbassat & Cie, 
    another Swiss bank, had $935 million invested in Madoff on 
    behalf of clients, according to Le Temps. 
    
    Scott Berman, a lawyer at Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP 
    in New York, who specializes in hedge-fund litigation, said hes 
    gotten numerous calls from investors who had money with feeder 
    funds such as Fairfield Greenwich and Tremont, and plans to 
    investigate whether these funds failed to do due diligence or if 
    they invested in ways that were contrary to what they told 
    investors. 
    
    Calling Lawyers
    
    Ross Intelisano, a lawyer at New York-based Rich & Intelisano 
    LLP, which also specializes in hedge-fund litigation, said there 
    may be attempts by investors to get money back from fellow 
    clients who withdrew money from Madoff accounts before the fraud 
    was uncovered. 
    
    You will have members of country clubs and members of families 
    on opposite sides of this case. It will rip up communities and 
    families, he said. 
    
    When Aksia researched Madoff last year, it learned the firms 
    books were audited by accountants Friehling & Horowitz, 
    operating out of a 13-by-18 foot location in an office park in 
    New York Citys northern suburbs. One partner, in his late 70s, 
    lives in Florida. The other employees are a secretary, and one 
    active accountant, Aksia said. 
    
    Other details that made Aksia nervous included the high degree 
    of secrecy surrounding the trading of the feeder fund accounts, 
    which provided capital to Madoff Securities, and its use of a 
    trading strategy that appeared remarkably simple, yet could not 
    be nearly replicated by our quant analyst, Aksia wrote in a Dec. 
    11 letter to its clients. 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Burton in New 
    York at kburton@bloomberg.net 
    
    Last Updated: December 15, 2008 18:22 EST 

    
Madoffs Lie Ensnares Victims From Paris to Tokyo (Update3) 
==========================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=aVTJBQRWrvlI

    
    By Jon Menon and Charles Penty
    
    Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoffs scam that allegedly cost 
    investors $50 billion ensnared firms from London and Paris to 
    Tokyo. 
    
    HSBC Holdings Plc, Europes biggest bank, has $1 billion at risk 
    after providing financing to funds that invested with Madoff, 
    the London-based bank said today. Nomura Holdings Inc., Japans 
    largest brokerage, has 27.5 billion yen ($302 million) of 
    exposure to Madoffs funds, while Frances BNP Paribas SA has as 
    much as 350 million euros at risk, the banks said. 
    
    Madoff, 70, was arrested by federal prosecutors Dec. 11 and 
    charged with operating what he told his sons was a long-running 
    Ponzi scheme in the New York-based firms business advising rich 
    people, hedge funds and institutions. He told senior employees 
    that the firm was insolvent and had been for years, prosecutors 
    said in the criminal complaint. 
    
    A frothy market encourages slack oversight, said Peter Hahn, a 
    fellow in finance at Londons Cass Business School, in an 
    interview today. Whenever something like this happens, everyone 
    who has been hit will comb through their investments. 
    
    The Madoff collapse comes as banks and investment companies are 
    reeling from falling asset prices and sputtering economies after 
    the U.S. subprime mortgage market crash. Financial firms have 
    reported almost $1 trillion of credit losses and writedowns 
    since the start of 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 
    
    Big Lie
    
    Madoff, who had advised the U.S. Securities and Exchange 
    Commission on how to regulate markets, described his investment 
    management operations as one big lie, prosecutors said. 
    Investors have disclosed about $24 billion of investments in 
    Madoffs funds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 
    
    Ira Ike Sorkin, a lawyer at Dickstein Shapiro LLP in New York 
    representing Madoff, declined to comment. Calls to residences 
    listed in the Madoffs names in Manhattan, Montauk, New York, and 
    Palm Beach, Florida, werent answered. Sorkin said on Dec. 13 
    that the situation was a tragedy. 
    
    BNP Paribas fell 10 percent in Paris trading after reporting its 
    Madoff exposure and suffering a legal setback in its plan to buy 
    the Belgian operations of Fortis. The Brussels Court of Appeals 
    ruled Dec. 12 that the sale of Fortis assets must be put to 
    investors for a vote before Feb. 12. The court decision 
    complicates BNP Paribass plan to complete the purchase quickly 
    and preserve Fortiss customer base. 
    
    Fortis Bank Nederland (Holding) NV said it could lose as much as 
    1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) because of Madoff. While neither 
    Fortis nor its subsidiaries have direct holdings with Madoff, 
    some units provided loans to funds that invested in the failed 
    firm, the bank said in a statement today. 
    
    Banco Bilbao
    
    Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spains second-biggest 
    lender, said it may face up to 300 million euros in losses from 
    the hedging of structured products linked to Madoff. BBVA acted 
    for other financial institutions and investors to set up 
    products linked to third-party funds that had invested in Madoff 
    Investment Securities, the Bilbao, Spain-based lender said in a 
    filing today to market regulators in Madrid. BBVA has no direct 
    investments in Madoff. 
    
    Banco Santander SA, Europes second-biggest bank by market value, 
    said yesterday its hedge fund unit invested 2.33 billion euros 
    of client funds with Madoff. The banks Optimal Investment 
    Services unit placed money with Madoff through its Optimal 
    Strategic U.S. Equity fund, the Spanish lender said. 
    
    Santander dropped as much as 4.9 percent in Madrid trading 
    before ending the day unchanged. Santander, based in the Spanish 
    city of the same name, lost 53 percent of its market value this 
    year. BBVA advanced 10 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 8.42 euros. 
    
    Client Funds
    
    Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc could lose as much as 400 
    million pounds ($601 million) on investments linked to Madoff. 
    The U.K.s second-largest bank, 58 percent owned by the 
    government, had exposure through trading and collateralized 
    lending to funds of hedge funds invested with Madoff, the 
    Edinburgh-based bank said today. 
    
    Natixis, based in Paris, said today it has as much as 450 
    million euros of client funds invested with Madoff. The stock 
    fell 3.4 percent in Paris trading. 
    
    Man Group Plc, Europes largest publicly traded hedge-fund 
    company, has about $360 million invested directly or indirectly 
    in funds linked to Madoff. The investments in two Madoff funds 
    represent 0.5 percent of Mans total assets under management, the 
    London-based company said in a Regulatory News Service 
    statement. 
    
    Zuckerman, Spielberg
    
    The list of victims of the alleged scheme may also include 
    real-estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, the foundation of Nobel 
    laureate Elie Wiesel, Senator Frank Lautenberg and a charity of 
    movie director Steven Spielberg, the Wall Street Journal 
    reported today, without saying where it got the information. 
    
    UniCredit SpA, Italys biggest bank, has 75 million euros of 
    exposure to funds run by Madoff, the Milan-based lender said in 
    a statement today. Its asset manager, Pioneer Investments, has 
    some indirect risk related to Madoff through its alternative 
    investments unit, and had substantially all of its $280 million 
    Primeo Select Fund with Madoff, according to the units Web site. 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: Charles Penty in Madrid 
    at at cpenty@bloomberg.netJon Menon in London at 
    jmenon1@bloomberg.net 
    
    Last Updated: December 15, 2008 15:56 EST 

    
Madoff Said to Use Unregistered Side-Unit for Clients (Update5) 
================================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=aXWbLI1zC.Oo

    
    By David Scheer and David Glovin
    
    Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Federal investigators working through the 
    weekend to unravel Bernard Madoffs alleged $50 billion Ponzi 
    scheme found evidence he ran an unregistered money-management 
    business alongside his firms brokerage and investment-advisory 
    subsidiaries, two people with knowledge of the inquiry said. 
    
    Clients of the undisclosed unit may have included hedge funds, 
    according to the people, who declined to be identified or to 
    name the funds because the probe isnt public. Investigators from 
    the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are looking for 
    signs that others participated in the alleged fraud and are 
    examining why Madoffs wifes name appeared on documents linked to 
    transactions under scrutiny, the people said. His wife, Ruth 
    Madoff, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. 
    
    Ira Ike Sorkin, a lawyer at Dickstein Shapiro LLP in New York 
    representing Madoff, declined to comment. Calls to residences 
    listed in the Madoffs names in Manhattan, Montauk, New York, and 
    Palm Beach, Florida, werent answered. John Heine, an SEC 
    spokesman, also declined to comment. 
    
    Sorkin said on Dec. 13 that the situation was a tragedy. 
    
    More than a dozen SEC inspectors have been working around the 
    clock examining records at Bernard L. Madoff Investment 
    Securities LLC in New York after his sons told authorities Dec. 
    10 hed confessed to orchestrating a Ponzi scheme with more than 
    $50 billion in losses, the biggest in history. People with 
    knowledge of the probe who initially said they suspected the 
    loss estimate was too high now say it may be roughly accurate. 
    
    Wilpon, BNP Paribas
    
    The $50 billion figure may reflect the amounts of money clients 
    were told they had in their accounts at the firm, not the 
    amounts they originally invested, two of the people said. 
    Customers who believed they had amassed investment gains over 
    time may have been misled, the people said. 
    
    Clients facing losses range from New York Mets owner Fred 
    Wilpons Sterling Equities Inc. to hedge funds such as Fairfield 
    Sentry Ltd. The alleged scam has ensnared more than 25 
    companies, including some of the biggest financial-services 
    firms such as BNP Paribas SA in Paris and Nomura Holdings Inc. 
    in Tokyo, which have said they may lose money because of trading 
    or lending tied to Madoffs firm. In all, companies, individuals 
    and foundations have disclosed about $24 billion of investments 
    with Madoff, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and media 
    reports. 
    
    Where Money Went
    
    Investigators are still trying to figure out where customers 
    money went. Madoff, 70, told his sons last week he had as much 
    as $300 million left, according to an SEC lawsuit filed in 
    federal court in Manhattan. The agency is looking for additional 
    money that may be recovered for victims, two people said. In a 
    regulatory filing in January, Madoffs firm listed $17 billion in 
    assets under management. 
    Details of the side business that the SEC is scrutinizing -- 
    including how much client money it held, who besides Madoff may 
    have been involved and how it was kept separate from the firms 
    registered investment-advisory unit -- couldnt be determined. 
    
    The SECs complaint said he conducted certain investment advisory 
    business on a separate floor and that he was cryptic about those 
    activities when talking with other employees. In registration 
    documents, the company said its advisory unit served between 11 
    and 25 clients, yet many times that number of people, firms and 
    funds have said they entrusted their savings to Madoff. 
    
    Advisory Activities
    
    His advisory activities were a mystery to most people at the 
    company, said two employees who declined to be identified, 
    citing concern that they might be drawn into the probe. The firm 
    on Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan occupied several floors, 
    with market-making and proprietary trading units on the 19th 
    floor, and back-office functions on the 18th, the employees 
    said. The advisory operations were on the 17th floor. 
    
    While traffic flowed between the 18th and 19th floors, the 17th 
    floor wasnt linked to the others and there was virtually no 
    interaction between the groups, according to the employees. 
    
    Madoffs sons, who ran the market-making and proprietary units, 
    told employees their father kept them in the dark about the 
    advisory unit, the employees said. While Madoff seldom appeared 
    on the 18th and 19th floors during the workday, he was known to 
    inspect during the evening for sloppy desks or window shades 
    that werent fully drawn, one of the employees said. 
    
    The only person the employee recalled seeing Madoff consult with 
    on the 17th floor was an executive known by his first name, 
    Frank. 
    
    Reached by phone at home, Madoff official Frank DiPascali 
    referred calls to his lawyer, Marc Mukasey, a former federal 
    prosecutor now at Bracewell & Giuliani in New York, who declined 
    to comment. His father is U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, 
    a former New York federal judge. 
    
    Black Mercedes
    
    No one answered the door today at DiPascalis home in 
    Bridgewater, New Jersey, which tax records show was assessed at 
    $1.38 million this year. A black Mercedes sat on the circular 
    driveway in the almost seven-acre parcel, which includes a pond. 
    A project to replace siding on the house is in progress and a 
    construction permit in DiPascalis name hung in a front window. 
    
    In court documents, U.S. criminal prosecutors and the SEC said 
    Madoff confessed that his advisory business, which catered to 
    rich people and institutional investors as well as hedge funds, 
    was all just one big lie. The business had been insolvent for 
    years, according to the SECs account of his statement. In a 
    Ponzi scheme early investors are paid with money raised from 
    subsequent victims. 
    
    Sons
    
    Madoff made the admissions to his sons, Mark and Andrew, who 
    turned him in to U.S. authorities, according to Martin 
    Flumenbaum, a lawyer at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison 
    LLP in New York who represents the brothers. 
    
    He was arrested Dec. 11 and charged at federal court in 
    Manhattan with a single count of securities fraud. Madoff was 
    released that day on a $10 million bond guaranteed by his wife 
    and secured by his Manhattan apartment. A day later, a federal 
    court froze the firms assets and appointed Lee Richards, an 
    attorney at Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP in New York, as a 
    receiver. 
    
    The Securities Investor Protection Corp. announced today that it 
    is liquidating Madoffs brokerage and named Irving Picard, a 
    lawyer at Gibbons PC in New York, trustee to return cash and 
    securities to customers. While the Washington-based SIPC 
    provides as much as $500,000 in insurance for any missing money 
    in individual brokerage accounts, it does not protect against 
    investment losses. 
    
    To contact the reporters on this story: David Scheer in New York 
    at dscheer@bloomberg.net; David Glovin in U.S. District Court in 
    New York at dglovin@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 15, 2008 18:23 EST 

    
Madoff Fraud Case Leads to Collapse of Justice-Reform Advocate 
==============================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=aj3r8k36.3Y8

    
    By Philip Boroff
    
    Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The arrest of New York money manager 
    Bernard Madoff claims one of the most active supporters of 
    criminal justice reform in the U.S. 
    
    The Manhattan-based JEHT Foundation (pronounced Jet) said 
    yesterday that it stopped making grants and will close in 
    January. In 2006 alone, it gave away $26.4 million, according to 
    its most recent publicly available tax return. 
    
    They are one of the best progressive foundations around, said 
    New York lawyer William Zabel, a partner with Schulte Roth & 
    Zabel and a director of the foundation. There are so many sad 
    stories out there, but this is one of the worst. 
    
    JEHT -- which stands for Justice, Equality, Human Dignity and 
    Tolerance -- harnessed the fortune of New York real estate 
    magnate Norman F. Levy, who died in 2005. For three decades, the 
    Levy family entrusted money with Madoff, whom the U.S. 
    Securities and Exchange Commission accused last week of 
    operating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. 
    
    Levys daughter, Jeanne Levy-Church, a New York-based producer of 
    independent films, contributed $23.6 million to the foundation 
    in 2006. The Betty and Norman F. Levy Foundation contributed $9 
    million in the same year. 
    
    The foundations 24 employees will lose their jobs, said JEHT 
    President Robert Crane. Crane said he didnt know the details of 
    Levy-Churchs finances except that she could no longer fund the 
    foundation. She was traveling yesterday and couldnt be reached 
    for comment. 
    
    Electoral Reform
    
    While the foundation distributed money to organizations such as 
    Human Rights Watch and groups advocating electoral reform, it 
    mainly focused on criminal justice because its a neglected area. 
    
    The board felt incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people were 
    among the most underserved population, Crane said. There were 
    very few foundations focusing on that. 
    
    New York-based Vera Institute of Justice has received millions 
    of dollars from JEHT since the foundation was established in 
    2000. Vera Director Michael P. Jacobson described JEHT as a 
    hard-nosed foundation focused on achieving results. 
    
    They really have an interest in government changing policy, he 
    said. 
    
    In 2007, the Kansas Department of Corrections received a $4.7 
    million grant from JEHT for a program to aid offenders once 
    theyre released to reduce recidivism. 
    
    With a $900,000 grant, Vera is working with prosecutors offices 
    in several states, researching the role of race in how 
    defendants are charged. 
    
    Ive had better days, Jacobson said of JEHTs collapse. Its not 
    like someone will step in and fill that gap. 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: Philip Boroff in New York 
    at pboroff@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 16, 2008 00:01 EST 

    
Charity Run by Senator Lautenberg Is Among Madoff Investors
===========================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=a6F5K10aRYN0

    
    By David Voreacos
    
    Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenbergs foundation 
    was among the charitable groups that invested with Bernard 
    Madoff, who was arrested last week after telling his sons he 
    committed a $50 billion fraud. 
    
    Senator Lautenbergs foundation was an investor in Bernard 
    Madoffs investment fund, primarily in the form of his familys 
    charitable foundation, Scott Mulhauser, a senior adviser on 
    Lautenbergs Senate staff, said yesterday in a statement. 
    
    The foundation run by Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, 
    invested $12.8 million of its $13.8 million in assets with 
    Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities at the end of 2006, 
    according to a tax return for the organization. The Madoff 
    investments returned $1.58 million, or 12.4 percent, in 2006, 
    and the foundation gave $765,509 to 106 organizations. 
    
    Madoff also managed money for the foundations of filmmaker 
    Steven Spielberg, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and clothier 
    Carl Shapiro, according to tax returns. Madoff, 70, was charged 
    with fraud after his sons told U.S. authorities that he 
    confessed to overseeing a Ponzi scheme with $50 billion in 
    losses, the biggest in history. 
    
    Lautenberg, 84, declined comment on Madoff, according to 
    Mulhauser. An attorney for the foundation, Michael Griffinger, 
    didnt return a call seeking comment yesterday. 
    
    Behind Rockefeller
    
    Lautenbergs net worth ranks ninth out of 100 U.S. senators, just 
    behind U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, 
    according to the Center for Responsive Politics Web site. 
    Lautenbergs worth is from $53.3 million to $125.7 million, 
    according to the centers analysis of his financial disclosure 
    forms, which puts a range on the value of his assets. 
    
    The Lautenberg foundations largest donation in 2006 was $352,500 
    to the United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest NJ in Whippany, New 
    Jersey, according to the tax return. 
    
    At the end of 2005, the foundation had $11.7 million of its 
    $13.1 million invested with Madoff, according to the return. 
    Madoffs portion earned $1.1 million on the sales of securities, 
    interest and dividends, for a total return of 9.2 percent, 
    according to the return. 
    
    The foundation gave $672,324 to 112 organizations that year, 
    including $217,861 to Columbia University, his alma mater. 
    
    At the end of 2004, the foundation also had $10.7 million 
    invested with Madoff, earning $1.04 million on interest, 
    dividends and the sales of securities, for a total return of 9.7 
    percent, according to the return. The foundation gave $449,952 
    to 110 organizations, including $97,000 to Columbia. 
    
    To contact the writer on the story: David Voreacos in Newark, 
    New Jersey at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 16, 2008 00:01 EST 

    
Tremont Invested More Than Half Its Assets With Bernard Madoff 
==============================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=aqfr8yxohYEA

    
    By Katherine Burton
     
    Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Tremont Group Holdings Inc., a hedge- 
    fund firm owned by OppenheimerFunds Inc., had $3.3 billion, or 
    more than half its total assets, invested with Bernard Madoff, 
    according to a person familiar with the matter. 
    
    Tremonts Rye Investment Management unit had $3.1 billion, 
    virtually all the money the group managed, allocated to Madoff, 
    said the person, who declined to be identified because the 
    information is private. Tremont had another $200 million, or 
    about 7 percent of its total assets, invested through its fund 
    of funds group, Tremont Capital Management. 
    
    Tremont, which manages a total of $5.8 billion, would have made 
    roughly $62 million this year peddling funds that are solely run 
    by Madoff, who was arrested Dec. 11 after he allegedly confessed 
    to running a giant Ponzi scheme that may have bilked investors 
    out of $50 billion. Hedge funds that invested with the 
    70-year-old Queens, New York-native charged fees to their 
    clients for the task of vetting the fund. 
    
    We believe Tremont exercised appropriate due diligence in 
    connection with the Madoff investments, the firm said today in a 
    statement. Tremont parent OppenheimerFunds is a unit of 
    Springfield, Massachusetts-based Massachusetts Mutual Life 
    Insurance Co. 
    
    Other funds that invested big with Madoff include Walter Noels 
    Fairfield Greenwich Group, which had about $7.5 billion out of 
    its $14.1 billion in total assets invested with the manager. 
    
    All together funds of funds had at least $20.3 billion invested 
    with Madoff, who charged no fees to investors, getting paid 
    instead through commissions from his brokerage business for 
    trading the stocks in the accounts. 
    
    Fund Fees
    
    Hedge funds that have disclosed holdings with Madoff were due at 
    least $352 million in fees this year, based on reported assets, 
    fees and Bloomberg data. The calculations dont include fees of 
    as much as 5 percent that clients paid for some funds when they 
    first invested. 
    
    Investors ensnared by Madoff include Fred Wilpon, the owner of 
    the New York Mets baseball team, clients of private bankers in 
    Geneva, wealthy Jewish families in New York and Palm Beach, 
    Florida, and institutions including BNP Paribas SA in Paris that 
    loaned investors money to increase their bets. Losses have been 
    reported by a pension fund in Fairfield, Connecticut, New York 
    hospitals and a charity in Salem, Massachusetts. 
    
    Investor Defections
    
    While Madoff didnt run a hedge fund, his alleged crime may 
    accelerate investor defections from the $1.5 trillion industry, 
    already hit by its worst losses since at least 1990 and 
    redemptions that may reach $400 billion this year, according to 
    estimates by Morgan Stanley. 
    
    In a Ponzi scheme, returns to early investors are paid with 
    money from later ones, until there isnt enough cash to go 
    around. Madoffs alleged scam unraveled when he received $7 
    billion in redemption requests that he couldnt meet. 
    
    Funds of hedge funds such as Fairfield Greenwich act as 
    middlemen, raising money from investors and farming it out to 
    other managers that they vet. The go-betweens manage 44 percent 
    of hedge-fund assets, according to data compiled by Hedge Fund 
    Research Inc. Their investments lost 19 percent on average 
    through November, a little more than a percentage point more 
    than single- manager funds, the Chicago-based firm says. 
    
    Due Diligence
    
    Funds of funds say they earn their fees by discovering the best 
    managers and assembling a diversified group of investments. They 
    also are supposed to conduct ongoing due diligence to avoid 
    frauds or other dangers, such as managers straying from their 
    core investment strategy. 
    
    I looked at investing in Madoff many years ago but there was 
    just no transparency, said Mohammed Syed, founder of London- 
    based Axiom Fund Manager, which invests in funds on behalf of 
    clients. There wasnt any transparency to link the story behind 
    the returns to actual transactions. 
    
    Tremont, founded by Sandra Manzke in 1985, sold Madoff- managed 
    investments since 1997 under the Rye Select Broad Market name, 
    charging 2 percent of assets, according to a marketing document. 
    
    Manzke now runs Darien, Connecticut-based MAXAM Capital 
    Management LLC, which marketed a $280 million fund that was 
    invested solely with Madoff. Manzke told the Wall Street Journal 
    she was wiped out. Manzke didnt return calls or e-mails. 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Burton in New 
    York at kburton@bloomberg.net 
    
    Last Updated: December 16, 2008 00:01 EST 

    
Madoff Case Creates Worst Loss for Jewish Charities (Update1) 
==============================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=ayBhXjXPNLMM

  ( Madoff Scandal Seen as Biggest Setback for Jewish Charities 
    Since 1930s New Yorks Museum of Jewish Heritage recently cut 
    its staff by 12 percent as it projects smaller donations 
    following the worst year for U.S. stocks since 1931.)
    
    By Philip Boroff and Patrick Cole
    
    Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- New Yorks Museum of Jewish Heritage 
    recently cut its staff by 12 percent as it projects smaller 
    donations following the worst year for U.S. stocks since 1931. 
    
    In the wake of the arrest of Bernard Madoff in whats being 
    called the biggest scandal in philanthropic history, museum 
    Deputy Director Ivy Barsky expects more pain. 
    
    Its devastating, even for those of us who arent directly 
    affected, she said. 
    
    Madoffs wealthy Jewish clients in New York, Boston and Palm 
    Beach, Florida, are coping with pain and anger after disclosure 
    of the alleged multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. The nonprofits 
    theyve funded will likely contend with budget cuts. 
    
    I cant think of anything since the Great Depression that had an 
    impact of this size, said Melissa Berman, president of 
    Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in New York. 
    
    Jews in the U.S. give more than $5 billion to Jewish causes. 
    Although they comprise just 2 percent of the population, Jews 
    contribute 25 percent of the largest gifts to higher education, 
    according to a recent study cited by Gary Tobin, president of 
    the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish and Community 
    Research. 
    
    To see foundations losing big parts or all of their assets 
    through fraud has never happened before, he said. This is a 
    tremendous violation of the public trust. 
    The losses to Jewish philanthropists -- who include film 
    director Steven Spielberg and real-estate developer Mortimer 
    Zuckerman -- are in the hundreds of millions, if not billions. 
    
    Brandeis, Boston Museum
    
    The $345 million Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation had 
    about 45 percent of its assets invested with Madoff, a 
    spokeswoman said. The foundation, a major donor to Brandeis 
    University and Bostons Museum of Fine Arts, was funded by Carl 
    Shapiro, who sold his Kay Windsor Inc. womens clothing business 
    to VF Corp. in 1971. 
    
    The Shapiro Family Foundation was shocked and horrified to learn 
    about allegations against Mr. Madoff, who has long been 
    considered a trusted and effective leader in the investment 
    field, a foundation statement said. 
    
    U.S. Senator Frank Lautenbergs foundation was among the 
    charitable groups that invested with Madoff, who told his sons 
    he committed a $50 billion fraud. 
    
    The foundation run by Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, 
    invested $12.8 million of its $13.8 million in assets with 
    Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities at the end of 2006, 
    according to a tax return for the organization. 
    
    The Lautenberg foundations largest donation in 2006 was $352,500 
    to the United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest NJ in Whippany, New 
    Jersey. 
    
    Los Angeles Federation
    
    The board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the 
    citys largest Jewish nonprofit, may have suffered a Madoff- 
    related loss of $6.4 million, or 11 percent of its endowment, 
    President John Fishel said. It will meet next week to review 
    investments and see if any changes should be made, he said. 
    
    The federation, with a budget of about $50 million this year, 
    has sufficient resources to continue its mission of providing 
    social services to the poor in the Jewish community, he said. 
    
    Yeshiva University lost about $110 million tied to the scandal, 
    a spokesman for the New York school said. 
    
    Hedge-Fund Investment
    
    Most of the losses were invested through hedge funds controlled 
    by J. Ezra Merkin, who was a Yeshiva trustee and chairman of the 
    schools investment committee, spokesman Bill Anderson said in a 
    telephone interview. Yeshiva, a 122-year-old private school that 
    combines academic and religious education, has an endowment of 
    about $1.2 billion remaining. 
    
    Ramaz, a Jewish school on New Yorks Upper East Side, had about 
    $6 million with Madoff. Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, an 
    Orthodox synagogue also on the Upper East Side, has about $3.5 
    million at risk. 
    
    We are still in the process of gathering the facts and assessing 
    the current status of the investment, Eric Feldstein, the 
    synagogues president, wrote in a letter yesterday to his 
    congregation. 
    
    Maimonides School, an Orthodox day school in Brookline, 
    Massachusetts, may have lost $5 million investing with Madoff, 
    Chairman Jeffrey Swartz wrote to the parents of students. 
    
    Last night, about 1,100 attended the UJA-Federation of New Yorks 
    annual Wall Street dinner. On Page 2 of the program, Madoff is 
    listed as an executive council member. The dinner raised about 
    $18.8 million, down from $21.6 million last year. 
    Theres no question a number of our large and medium donors were 
    hurt by this, Jerry Levin, the organizations chairman and head 
    of JW Levin Partners LLC, said in an interview. I think the list 
    is going to be considerably bigger. 
    
    UJA-Federation of New York aids more than 100 health, education 
    and community organizations. It said in a statement that it 
    didnt invest with Madoff. 
    
    To contact the writers on the story: Philip Boroff in New York 
    at pboroff@bloomberg.net; Patrick Cole in New York at 
    pcole3@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 17, 2008 10:56 EST 

    
Madoffs Indirect Investors May Recover Some Money, Lawyer Says 
==============================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=a6SuIr.sfbv4

    
    By Alexis Leondis
    
    Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Indirect investors who got ensnarled in 
    Bernard Madoffs alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme have a better 
    chance of recovering their money than direct investors, says a 
    securities-arbitration lawyer. 
    
    Investors who went through a third-party such as a hedge fund or 
    a broker can turn to a lawsuit or arbitration, said Jacob 
    Zamansky, a securities-arbitration attorney based in New York. 
    
    Since these third parties didnt do the appropriate due diligence 
    before turning their clients money over to Madoffs firm, they 
    are liable, according to Zamansky, who said he has been retained 
    by about 12 clients who invested directly or indirectly with 
    Madoff. 
    
    Those third parties have deeper pockets, so theres a good 
    possibility investors will get a substantial portion, if not all 
    of their money returned, Zamansky said. 
    
    Madoff was arrested Dec. 11 after he told his two sons that 
    clients of his New York-based investment-advisory firm lost $50 
    billion in a giant Ponzi scheme, according to the Securities and 
    Exchange Commission. 
    
    For direct investors, filing a lawsuit is throwing money out the 
    window in legal fees, said James Cox, a securities law professor 
    at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. 
    
    By the time they collect all of Madoffs assets and liquidate 
    them, providing there are no clawbacks, there will probably just 
    be enough to pay the attorneys fees, said Cox. A so-called 
    clawback is when money that has been distributed is reclaimed to 
    recover proceeds for other investors. 
    
    The Securities Investor Protection Corp., a government- 
    sponsored group that protects clients when brokerages fail, is 
    liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, 
    according to the Washington-based organization. 
    
    Utterly Unreliable
    
    It will take six months to sort out Madoffs records, said 
    Stephen Harbeck, president of SIPC, on Bloomberg Television. 
    Harbeck described Madoffs records as utterly unreliable. 
    
    There are some assets, but I have no idea what the relationships 
    of the assets available are to the claims against them, Harbeck 
    said. 
    
    SIPC insures as much as $500,000 per customer account for money 
    that is stolen, not lost because of declining investments. 
    According to its Web site, SIPC has a reserve of slightly more 
    than $1 billion. 
    
    Those who invested with Madoff through his investment advisory 
    firm, which he allegedly used to run the Ponzi scheme, wont be 
    covered by SIPC, said Stuart Meissner, a former securities 
    regulator who is now an investor lawyer based in New York. Only 
    direct investors in Madoffs brokerage firm will be covered, he 
    said. 
    
    Gray Area
    
    If the securities appearing on statements were fictitious and 
    not in customers accounts, coverage becomes a gray area, said 
    Meissner. 
    
    If SIPC makes an insurance payout, it may take up to two years 
    for investors to get the distribution, Meissner said. 
    
    Investors also may have to wait several years for a trustee to 
    sell off the assets or let them mature before receiving a pro- 
    rata distribution, said Mercer Bullard, a University of 
    Mississippi law professor and former mutual-fund attorney at the 
    SEC. 
    
    Those who closed their accounts with Madoff within the last year 
    need to be aware that there could be a clawback, Zamansky said. 
    
    While authorities unscramble the Madoff case, both indirect and 
    direct investors need to gather all documents to prove their 
    claims, said the securities lawyers and law professors. 
    
    Offering Memorandum
    
    The most important document for investors who used a hedge fund 
    as a third party is the offering memorandum that lists the rules 
    under which the fund operates, said Bullard, the University of 
    Mississippi law professor. Peripheral documents including e- 
    mails and marketing materials from firm employees are also 
    helpful for proving claims, Bullard said. 
    
    Zamansky recommended gathering copies of checks, wire transfers 
    and monthly or annual statements reflecting investments. 
    
    The only consolation for some who invested with Madoff may be a 
    tax write-off because losses due to theft can usually be 
    deducted. 
    
    There probably isnt any redress in all this except the delight 
    at having a deduction on your tax return, Cox said. 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: Alexis Leondis in New 
    York aleondis@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 16, 2008 14

    
Madoffs Wife Said to Be Investigated Over Ponzi Scheme Records
===============================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=a3.V5Hz3noK4

    ( Madoff Put Under House Arrest as SEC Says It Failed to Act 
      on Allegations Bernard Madoff, accused mastermind of a $50 
      billion investment fraud, was placed under house arrest as
      pressure mounted on the Securities and Exchange Commission to
      explain its failure to detect his financial wrongdoing for
      almost a decade.)
    
    By David Scheer and Allan Dodds Frank
    
    Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Ruth Madoff, the 67-year-old wife of 
    alleged fraud mastermind Bernard Madoff, is being investigated 
    by U.S. regulators over whether she helped maintain secret 
    records used in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, a person familiar 
    with the matter said. 
    
    The Securities and Exchange Commission, combing through files at 
    her husbands New York firm, found evidence she may have helped 
    track payments, the person said, declining to be identified 
    because the inquiry isnt public. Two people with knowledge of 
    the probe said on Dec. 14 that the agency is also examining why 
    her name appears on related transactions. 
    
    Shes not charged with anything, said Ira Ike Sorkin, a New York 
    attorney at Dickstein Shapiro LLP, which represents the couple. 
    The SEC has not sought to freeze her assets. Shes under no bail 
    conditions. 
    
    Authorities havent accused Ruth Madoff of wrongdoing. U.S. 
    Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein, who is overseeing criminal 
    proceedings against her husband, today ordered the couple to 
    surrender their passports. Bernard Madoffs wife and brother, 
    Peter, were the only people willing to sign a $10 million bond 
    to secure his release. Ruth Madoff is seeking to hire her own 
    lawyer, a person familiar with the matter said. 
    
    Bernard Madoff, 70, was arrested Dec. 11 and charged with a 
    single count of securities fraud. In court documents, 
    prosecutors and the SEC said he had said his investment advisory 
    business was all just one big lie. 
    
    Montauk, Palm Beach
    
    The couple appeared in court today to sign documents to give up 
    homes in Montauk, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, if Bernard 
    Madoff flees. His bail hearing was postponed a second time in as 
    many days and he is now subject to electronic monitoring and a 7 
    p.m. curfew. 
    
    Ruth Madoff, who also has a masters of science degree in 
    nutrition from New York University, co-edited a cookbook in 1996 
    called The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher. The book contains 
    recipes for kosher dishes by well-known chefs, such as Daniel 
    Boulud and Wolfgang Puck. 
    
    The legal developments came after SEC Chairman Christopher Cox 
    said yesterday the agency failed to act on credible, specific 
    allegations about Bernard Madoff dating back to 1999. The Madoff 
    affair will be at the center of planned congressional hearings 
    on the reform of the SEC, said a senior Senate official, 
    speaking on condition of anonymity. 
    
    Coxs Successor
    
    Cox, a Republican appointed by President George W. Bush, has 
    said he will step down when Bush leaves office Jan. 20. 
    President-elect Barack Obama plans to name as Coxs successor 
    Mary Schapiro, chief executive officer of the Financial Services 
    Regulatory Authority, people familiar with the matter said 
    today. 
    
    The SEC, already faulted in connection with the collapse of Bear 
    Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., faces criticism 
    for failing to detect Madoff. A House panel will hold a hearing 
    next month. 
    
    Madoffs responses during a 2005 SEC inspection of his brokerage 
    operation should have raised suspicions and prompted further 
    inquiries, said two people familiar with the matter. 
    
    Two years later, the agency closed a separate probe into tips 
    and press reports suggesting his investment returns were too 
    good to be true. Money manager Harry Markopolos helped trigger 
    that inquiry by suggesting Madoff may be running a Ponzi scheme 
    or front-running, in which traders buy shares for their account 
    before filling customers orders, a person with knowledge of the 
    case said. 
    
    Front-Running
    
    Investigators focused on front-running and, after encountering 
    obstacles, didnt finish verifying trades Madoff claimed were for 
    advisory clients, the person said. His companys trades had been 
    cleared through a single account at the Depository Trust & 
    Clearing Corp., making it difficult to distinguish transactions 
    specifically for Madoffs advisory business. Other transactions 
    were completed through foreign brokerages, forcing the SEC to 
    persuade foreign regulators to collect the data. Instead, 
    investigators closed the case. 
    
    Besides talking with Madoff, authorities are scrutinizing the 
    role of Frank DiPascali, a senior official in Madoffs investment 
    advisory firm, said people familiar with the case. 
    
    Were trying to sort out everything and learn the facts, 
    DiPascalis lawyer, Marc Mukasey of Bracewell & Giuliani in New 
    York, said in an interview, declining further comment. 
    
    U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Marc Mukaseys father, has 
    recused himself from the Justice Departments investigation into 
    Madoff because his son represents someone involved in the case, 
    a department spokesman said today. 
    
    Michael Mukasey is a 1959 graduate of the Ramaz School, a modern 
    Orthodox Jewish school in New York that invested as much as $6 
    million in a fund that invested with Madoff, said Kenny Rochlin, 
    Ramazs director of institutional advancement. Mukaseys wife, 
    Susan, was headmistress of Ramazs Lower School for children in 
    primary grades, Rochlin said. 
    
    The case is U.S. v. Madoff, 08-mag-2735, U.S. District Court, 
    Southern District of New York (Manhattan). 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: David Scheer in New York 
    at dscheer@bloomberg.net; Allan Dodds Frank in New York at 
    allanfrank@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 17, 2008 18:38 EST

    
Madoff Enjoyed $50 Pedicures, 9.8 Handicap, Boat Called Bull 
=============================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=aQv4Kmx.cs78

    
    By Mark Clothier and Oshrat Carmiel
    
    Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Two weeks ago, Bernard Madoff stopped by 
    the Everglades Barber Shop off Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, 
    Florida, for the usual: a $65 haircut, a $40 shave, a $50 
    pedicure and a $22 manicure. 
    
    For me, he was a gentleman, said Senio Figliozzi, 72, the owner 
    of the three-seat barber shop who has been cutting Madoffs hair 
    for the past 17 winters. What he did outside, it was news to me. 
    
    What Madoff did outside -- running an alleged Ponzi scheme that 
    may have bilked investors around the world out of $50 billion -- 
    has been the talk of Palm Beach this week. The arrested money 
    manager owns a $21 million home on the Intracoastal Waterway 
    about a mile from the Palm Beach Country Club. He was a regular 
    at the club, where his 9.8 handicap this year has been as steady 
    as the returns he promised investors. 
    
    It was those returns that lured Marilyn Lane, 72, and her 
    husband, William, 81, into Madoffs orbit. The Lanes, who own a 
    Chevrolet and Saturn dealership in Manassas, Virginia, and a 
    place in Palm Beach, invested more than $1 million with Madoff 
    about six months ago. 
    
    He certainly had a track record, Lane said at Greens Pharmacy 
    and Luncheonette, a popular Palm Beach breakfast and lunch spot. 
    Everyone you spoke to highly recommended him. It wasnt like you 
    were going with a fly-by-night scheme. You think. 
    Many of those who gave their money to the 70-year-old Madoff say 
    the same thing: He was gregarious, generous and highly regarded 
    -- all excellent qualities for an alleged con man. Whether they 
    met him at the Palm Beach Country Club or in Montauk, Long 
    Island, where he owned a beachfront home, or in New York, where 
    he lived with his wife, Ruth, in a duplex on East 64th Street, 
    most were impressed with his credentials and his manner. 
    
    Table in Front
    
    Hes very personable, very charming, said Jerry Reisman, an 
    attorney in Garden City, New York, who recalls meeting Madoff 
    five or six years ago at the Glen Oaks Country Club, a golf 
    course in Westbury, New York. He moved in the best circles. He 
    was a pro at it. He was probably one of the best social 
    networkers in America. 
    
    Now Reisman, a lawyer with Reisman, Peirez & Reisman in Garden 
    City, New York, is representing 10 people who invested with 
    Madoff and say they lost a total of about $150 million. 
    
    At the Palm, a steak restaurant in East Hampton, New York, 
    manager Tomas Romano says Madoff has been a regular for 20 
    years. He always insisted on a table in the front of the 
    restaurant, Romano said, and was often surrounded by well- 
    wishers. Many of the people listed as victims of Madoffs fraud, 
    he noted, were also customers of the Palm. 
    
    Mystery Adviser
    
    Even Spielberg, he said, referring to filmmaker Steven 
    Spielberg, whose Wunderkinder Foundation had money invested in 
    Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. 
    
    Its like when you profile somebody, Romano said. You say, No, 
    this person couldnt do that. 
    
    If Madoff enjoyed himself in public, his advisory activities 
    were a mystery to most people at the company he founded in 1960, 
    said two employees who declined to be identified, citing concern 
    they might be drawn into the probe. 
    
    The firm occupied several floors of what is known as the 
    Lipstick Building on Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Madoffs 
    market-making and proprietary trading units were on the 19th and 
    back-office functions on the 18th, the employees said. The 
    advisory operations were on the 17th floor, which wasnt linked 
    to the others. There was little interaction between the groups, 
    according to the employees. The units used separate computer 
    systems, a person with knowledge of the arrangement said. 
    
    Draw the Blinds
    
    Madoffs sons, who ran the market-making and proprietary units, 
    told employees their father kept them in the dark about the 
    advisory unit, the employees said. While Madoff seldom appeared 
    on the 18th and 19th floors during the workday, he was known to 
    inspect during the evening for sloppy desks or window shades 
    that werent fully drawn, one of the employees said. 
    
    Madoff lived about 10 blocks from the office in an apartment in 
    a tan-brick building on the corner of Park Avenue and 64th 
    Street that he bought in 1990 for $3.325 million, according to 
    county real estate records. He also owned a 55-foot wooden 
    fishing boat that he bought in 1977 for $462,000. The yacht, 
    built in 1969 by Rybovich & Sons in Riviera Beach, Florida, is 
    called Bull. 
    
    Both Madoff and his wife were born in Queens. Bernard graduated 
    from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, in 1960 and 
    served as a trustee from 2004 until he was suspended on Dec. 12, 
    according to Stu Vincent, a spokesman for the school. Ruth 
    graduated from Queens College in 1961. She joined the board of 
    the Queens College Foundation in 1993 and voluntarily stepped 
    down from her job as secretary of the foundation several days 
    ago, said Phyllis Cohen Stevens, a spokeswoman for the school. 
    
    Youre Finished
    
    Ruth Madoff, who also has a master of science degree in 
    nutrition from New York University, co-edited a cookbook in 1996 
    called The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher. The book contains 
    recipes for kosher dishes by well-known chefs, such as Daniel 
    Boulud and Wolfgang Puck. 
    
    The couple has two sons -- Mark, 44, who graduated from the 
    University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1986, and Andrew, 42, who 
    graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 
    1988. The family was very close, according to a person who knows 
    the Madoffs, and both boys went to work at their fathers firm 
    after graduating from college. Madoffs brother, Peter, also 
    worked at the firm, as chief compliance officer. 
    
    Mark and Andrew have both lost millions of dollars, the person 
    said, and they havent talked to their father since his arrest. 
    
    There are plenty of people in Palm Beach and elsewhere who would 
    like to talk to Madoff, if only to find out how everything could 
    have gone up in smoke. 
    
    This town isnt about class or culture, said Laurence Leamer, a 
    Palm Beach resident since 1994 and author of Madness Under the 
    Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach, 
    which will be published in January. This town is about money. 
    Bernie was revered because he had money. If you lose your money, 
    youre finished. 
    
    To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Clothier in Atlanta 
    at mclothier@bloomberg.net; Oshrat Carmiel in New York 
    ocarmiel1@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 17, 2008 00:13 EST 

    
Madoff Auditor Under Investigation by New York State Prosecutor
================================================================
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a0j8yRMGb5pw&refer=news

    
    By Karen Freifeld
    
    Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The auditor for Bernard L. Madoff 
    Investment Securities LLC, whose namesake was charged in a $50 
    billion Ponzi scheme last week, is under investigation by the 
    district attorney in New Yorks Rockland County, a northern 
    suburb of New York City. 
    
    The New City, New York, auditing firm Friehling & Horowitz 
    signed off on the annual financial statement of Madoffs 
    Manhattan-based investment advisory business through Oct. 31, 
    2006, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg News. 
    
    Madoff was charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and sued 
    by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 11. He 
    told senior employees that the firm was insolvent and had been 
    for years, prosecutors said in the criminal complaint. David 
    Friehling, whose name is on the door to the store-front 
    accounting office, hasnt been charged. 
    
    Were trying to determine if there have been any state crimes 
    here, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said in a 
    telephone interview yesterday. When you have a key player like 
    that operating in your county, you have to look. 
    
    Friehling didnt return calls for comment. 
    
    Zugibe said, among other things, he was probing to see whether 
    any other Rockland-based businesses or other organizations might 
    be affected. 
    
    The implication is pretty broad, Zugibe said. 
    
    Friehling is on the board of the JCC Rockland, a Jewish center 
    in the county. He also is a past-president and a current board 
    member of the Rockland chapter of the New York State Society of 
    Certified Public Accountants. 
    
    Hedge Fund Adviser
    
    Hedge fund investment adviser Aksia LLC warned clients last year 
    not to put their money with Madoff after learning of red flags 
    at his company, including that its books were audited by a 
    three-person accounting firm. 
    
    Friehling & Horowitz included one partner in his late 70s who 
    lives in Florida, a secretary, and one active accountant, Aksia 
    said. 
    
    The copy of the four-page annual financial statement, dated Dec. 
    18, 2006, attested that the financial statements of Madoffs 
    securities firm were in conformity with accounting principles 
    generally accepted in the United States. 
    
    The financial analysis said Madoff Securities had $1.3 billion 
    in assets, including $711 million in marketable securities and 
    $67 million in U.S. debt. Members equity, the firms net worth, 
    was $604 million, according to the document. 
    
    The firm operates from a storefront office in the Georgetown 
    Office Plaza in New City, New York, sandwiched between a 
    pediatricians office and another medical office. 
    
    Leslie Cousar, who works in a nearby office, said on Dec. 12 
    that the man who comes to the auditors office does so for 10-to- 
    15 minute periods and leaves. She said he drives a Lexus and 
    doesnt dress in business attire. 
    
    The case is U.S. v. Madoff, 08-MAG-02735, U.S. District Court 
    for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan). 
    
    To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Freifeld in New 
    York state Supreme Court at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net. 
    
    Last Updated: December 15, 2008 00:01 EST 


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Network Engineer - UNIX/Linux Specialist
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