The Independent reports that many victims of Bernard Madoff’s gigantic Ponzi scheme still do not know that they are now destitute. In fact, I have been a little surprised at how little coverage a $50 billion scam has been getting in the US media. The report may indicate why:
Some victims of Wall Street’s biggest fraud – planned and carried out over decades by one of its most respected figures – are as yet unaware that their entire savings have been wiped out, financial experts in New York said yesterday. Such is the extent of Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn (£34bn) swindle, and so convoluted its paper trail of derivatives, that this weekend there will be Americans under the impression they are rich who are oblivious that their wealth had been placed in Mr Madoff’s apparently criminal hands, and is therefore now lost.
Enough details of the fallout were emerging yesterday to begin to judge the mayhem this one-time chairman of Nasdaq, and Democratic Party and Jewish charity benefactor, has wreaked. Those likely to have lost everything include a Jewish charity that had its $7m assets lodged with Mr Madoff’s firm, and had to lay off its staff on Friday, and Manhattan and Florida socialites. Many, in the words of an investigator, are now “destitute”. Corporate losers include Nicola Horlick (pictured, inset), the British hedge-fund manager known as “Superwoman” for her hectic private and business lives, whose Bramdean Alternatives seems to have lost at least £10m; and, reportedly, the Japanese brokerage house Nomura.
Madoff was a very large – but not ridiculously large – donor to Democrats. You’ll have to search his name at the Federal Elections Commission to get the details – their links are not persistent – but Madoff contributed some $161,000 – almost exclusively to Democrats (one exception, some money to Al D’Amato). Charles Schumer got rather a lot. So did the Democratic Senatoril Campaign Committee. They got a lot of Madoff’s money.
Do read the whole thing. It has more interesting tidbits.
