madoff posts
FeedPosted Sep 28th 2009 10:00AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Scandals
Even with the ringleader in jail, the pursuit of Bernie Madoff doesn't seem to be finished. Sunday night, the trustee who's winding down the Madoff company said on 60 Minutes that Madoff's two sons (Mark and Andrew), brother (Peter) and niece (Shana) will be slapped with a $198 million suit. They are alleged to have known about the Ponzi scheme, according to the trustee, Irving Picard and his chief counsel, David Sheehan.
Sheehan and Picard are also working under the assumption that there is still some money hidden, quite a lot of it, in fact. Picard told the show, "We'd assume it's millions and millions of dollars." Yet, this probably wouldn't help with the task in front of them.
Continue reading Madoff family to be sued for $198 million
Posted Sep 9th 2009 3:50PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Scandals, Housing

Looking for a 4,000-square-foot duplex with four fireplaces and a doorman on the Upper East Side of New York? You are in luck, because the U.S. Marshals will put Bernie Madoff's "luxury penthouse"
on the market. The apartment is believed to be worth $7 million, so if you have some extra cash laying around, you could find yourself movin' on up to the Upper East Side. A list of the amenities includes ornate cabinets, stainless steel countertops, Baccarat crystal glasses, a winding staircase to the bedroom, an atrium breakfast nook, and a flat-screen TV in one of the bathrooms.
Continue reading Looking for a penthouse? Madoff's is for sale.
Posted Sep 9th 2009 10:20AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Scandals
The Fairfield Greenwich Group has agreed to pay an $8 million settlement to a small group of investors in Massachusetts that lost money through the Madoff scam. This is expected to be a full repayment. Fairfield is also going to pay a $500,000 fine to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As part of the deal, the feeder fund does not have to admit any wrongdoing.
According to a report in USA Today, this is the first Madoff case in which a regulator secured some relief for investors. While this only addresses a relative handful of investors, the Massachusetts Secretary of State believes that it may become a precedent for other actions.
Continue reading Massachusetts and Madoff feeder fund come to agreement
Posted Aug 8th 2009 12:10PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Law, Scandals, Headline news
Bernie Madoff's long-time go-to guy, Frank DiPascali, isn't trying to beat the system any more. He has decided to plead guilty to criminal charges spanning more than two decades.
DiPascali is the first of Madoff's employees to be charged. Aside from Madoff, the only other person greeted by the criminal justice system has been outside auditor David Friehling, who isn't going as easily as DiPascali (he's pled not guilty).
If all goes as planned, DiPascali will plead guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday at 3 PM. For now, everyone's remaining tight-lipped, and the terms have not yet been revealed.
Continue reading Madoff lieutenant gives in, to plead on Monday
Posted Jul 19th 2009 4:00PM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Scandals
David Friehling is only the second person to face criminal charges in the Bernard Madoff debacle. He served as Madoff's auditor from 1991 to 2008, though it's hard to say if they'll resume their relationship as cellies. For now, Friehling has only been charged (innocent until proven guilty, and such) with securities fraud, abetting investment adviser fraud and filing false reports with the SEC. On five of the six charges filed, he faces a 20-year maximum.
It's alleged that Friehling didn't conduct "meaningful" audits while in Madoff's employ, despite issuing reports saying that he'd done his job -- which paid close to $15,000 a month (no work for big pay . . . where do I sign up?). In particular, he's said to have not bothered to verify Madoff's business assets, revenue sources or bank accounts. This is no-brainer stuff for an auditor.
Continue reading Madoff bean-counter pleads not guilty
Posted Jul 6th 2009 1:20PM by Mitch Tuchman (RSS feed)
Filed under: Mutual funds, Money and Finance Today, ETF Investing, Personal finance
As you read stories about victims of the Madoff fraud, aren't you glad that you weren't one of them? Why are you so sure that it will never happen to you? How do you know its not happening to you now?
In academic financial research, there's a concept called "agency risk." Agency risk occurs when someone who is acting as your agent has a set of interests that conflict with yours. In investing, agency risk is rampant because one party can often gain from an action that will cause a loss to the investor without the investor even knowing it! Bernie Madoff was an agent of the investors who hired him to manage their money and he was crooked for years until his scheme ended. But investors face plenty of legal, yet sometimes equally dangerous forms of agency risk. It is important to understand them and find ways to mitigate these risks.
Continue reading Is there a Bernie Madoff in your portfolio?
Posted Jul 1st 2009 8:40AM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Law, Scandals
Reportedly, Swiss bank UBS (NYSE: UBS) "systemically and deliberately" violated U.S. law by dispatching private bankers in America to recruit citizens interested in evading taxes.
UBS is now being forced by the Justice Department to reveal the identities of the 52,000 clients. This filing asks that the U.S. District Judge (Alan S. Gold) hold UBS accountable for conducting years of illegal business in the U.S. This business reportedly earned UBS more than $100 million in fees, while costing the U.S. "hundreds of millions" of dollars in unpaid taxes.
Continue reading Something's fishy at UBS
Posted Jun 29th 2009 3:30PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Press releases, Law, Consumer experience, Scandals, Media World

Bernie Madoff was in federal court today, where he was given a 150 year sentence for charges related to his Ponzi scheme.
Reports from the courtroom state that Madoff, the mastermind behind the largest ever Ponzi scheme, showed little to no emotion today when he learned that he would be spending the rest of his life in a jail cell. Due to federal sentencing guidelines, Madoff must serve at least 80% of his sentence, so he will not be eligible for parole until 2129.
Continue reading Madoff receives a sentence of 150 years
Posted Jun 25th 2009 5:10PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Press releases, Management, Law, Consumer experience, Scandals
Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford pleaded 'not guilty' today in a federal court arraignment to charges that he ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Not only is Stanford being charged with running the Ponzi scheme, there are also allegations that he paid $100,000 to Leroy King, the former chief executive officer of Antigua's Financial Services Regulatory Commission.
This day has been coming for a while. It seems as though the government has been looking into Stanford's investment company since 2005, but it was only this past February that they shut down the Houston office of his investment company, Stanford Financial Group.
Continue reading Stanford pleads not guilty to fraud charges
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