The man behind a $50 billion Ponzi scheme that has roiled Wall Street and shaken up the nonprofit world was also a long-time contributor to Democrats, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found. Bernard Madoff was arrested last Thursday and charged with operating a fraudulent money-management business with which he advised investors, hedge funds and institutions, including charitable foundations. Madoff made a fortune, and he played politics with some of that money. In total, he and his wife, Ruth, have given $238,200 to federal candidates, parties and committees since 1991, with Democrats getting 88 percent of that. Overall, Madoff and other individuals at his company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, gave $372,100 in campaign contributions since 1991, with 89 percent to Democrats. The firm spent $590,000 on lobbying in the last 11 years, all but $10,000 of it with the lobbying firm of Lent, Scrivner & Roth.
wall street a middle man to filter money to political parties
and government in bed with wall street and big corporations in general
who woulda thunk
government gives banks or whoever handouts or allows them to create ponzi schemes
investment banks are a ponzi scheme too its just the government steps in to insure they don't collapse
look at the top contributors to BOTH obama and mccain campaigns and you will find all the major banks up at the tippy top
not just a dem issue zit
and government in bed with wall street and big corporations in general
who woulda thunk
government gives banks or whoever handouts or allows them to create ponzi schemes
investment banks are a ponzi scheme too its just the government steps in to insure they don't collapse
look at the top contributors to BOTH obama and mccain campaigns and you will find all the major banks up at the tippy top
not just a dem issue zit
I'm surprised this story hasn't gotten more attention from the Rx (other than this thread and a couple of posts in tiz's thread).
I have no sympathy for his investors and, while they are at it, the FBI/SEC should investigate everyone of them as well as every politician that was happy w/their hand out to accept a check from this POS crook.
I have no sympathy for his investors and, while they are at it, the FBI/SEC should investigate everyone of them as well as every politician that was happy w/their hand out to accept a check from this POS crook.
SEC=fraud
they on the side of ponzi schemers
they look the other way when things are fine and the ponzi schemes are working fine
and find a few fall guys enron and martha stewart (tech bubble burst) and now madoff when shit implodes
same as it always is with government "regulation"
let crooks run wild and than bitch slap a few of um around as a circus show for the sheep to lap up as if they are doing something
as they hand out gobs of money to banks and whatever big business that comes running to nanny state government for a handout
privatize the profits and socialize the losses
the american way
and its only gonna get worse
---------------------------
SEC staff failed to probe Madoff: Cox
Tuesday December 16, 7:50 pm ET
SEC failed to fully probe claims against Madoff, Cox says; orders review of agency conduct
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission failed many times over a decade to fully investigate credible allegations of wrongdoing by money manager Bernard Madoff, the head of the SEC says, calling it a serious agency breakdown.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said he is "gravely concerned by the apparent multiple failures" by staff to look into claims about Madoff's business and to seek formal authority to investigate.
Madoff was charged with fraud last week in what is being called one of the biggest Ponzi schemes on record, with investors possibly losing more than $50 billion.
Cox said in a statement he has asked the SEC's inspector general to conduct a full review of the agency's handling of the Madoff case.
they on the side of ponzi schemers
they look the other way when things are fine and the ponzi schemes are working fine
and find a few fall guys enron and martha stewart (tech bubble burst) and now madoff when shit implodes
same as it always is with government "regulation"
let crooks run wild and than bitch slap a few of um around as a circus show for the sheep to lap up as if they are doing something
as they hand out gobs of money to banks and whatever big business that comes running to nanny state government for a handout
privatize the profits and socialize the losses
the american way
and its only gonna get worse
---------------------------
SEC staff failed to probe Madoff: Cox
Tuesday December 16, 7:50 pm ET
SEC failed to fully probe claims against Madoff, Cox says; orders review of agency conduct
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission failed many times over a decade to fully investigate credible allegations of wrongdoing by money manager Bernard Madoff, the head of the SEC says, calling it a serious agency breakdown.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said he is "gravely concerned by the apparent multiple failures" by staff to look into claims about Madoff's business and to seek formal authority to investigate.
Madoff was charged with fraud last week in what is being called one of the biggest Ponzi schemes on record, with investors possibly losing more than $50 billion.
Cox said in a statement he has asked the SEC's inspector general to conduct a full review of the agency's handling of the Madoff case.
yup lotso ponzi's schemes imploding before our very eyes
social security definitely a ponzi scheme although to be fair in its original form it wasn't
but once the government started tapping it to make up for shortfalls in other areas it became that
investment banking leverage 10 to 1 is a ponzi scheme
but those guys are "essential" so they can apply to be commericial banks so they can get fed backing and lotso government aid
paulson our treasury secretary was CEO of goldman sachs as alot this was taking place he should be in jail
instead he's in charge of handing out money to the crooks
hilarous shit when you think about it
social security definitely a ponzi scheme although to be fair in its original form it wasn't
but once the government started tapping it to make up for shortfalls in other areas it became that
investment banking leverage 10 to 1 is a ponzi scheme
but those guys are "essential" so they can apply to be commericial banks so they can get fed backing and lotso government aid
paulson our treasury secretary was CEO of goldman sachs as alot this was taking place he should be in jail
instead he's in charge of handing out money to the crooks
hilarous shit when you think about it
In a true "Ponzi" scheme, very few people on the back end get paid from the money that's been put in on the front side.
SS has a number of flaws, but literally hundreds of millions of Americans have been paid over the past half century with tens of millions receiving monthly checks today.
and so the circus show begins judge orders ankle bracelet and curfew on madoff
look guys we are going after the bad dudes see....see....we really are.........we are fighting for you!!!!!!
whatever....
all a circus show
and they make a handful of the thousands of crooks (with government agencies allowing them do what they did while being "regulated") an example while 99.?% of them don't get touched
look guys we are going after the bad dudes see....see....we really are.........we are fighting for you!!!!!!
whatever....
all a circus show
and they make a handful of the thousands of crooks (with government agencies allowing them do what they did while being "regulated") an example while 99.?% of them don't get touched
uke1:As apparently no-one else will do it, I'm going to ask: Zit, what exactly justifies the thread title you chose? Madoff stole to give to Democrat party?
He is supposed to have stolen $50B and your article says he and his wife gave about $210,000 to Democrats. That is 0.0004 %. Hardly enough to establish a causal connection, eh?
He is supposed to have stolen $50B and your article says he and his wife gave about $210,000 to Democrats. That is 0.0004 %. Hardly enough to establish a causal connection, eh?
Madoff scheme hits Palm Beach country club hard
Thursday December 18, 2:19 am ET
By Allen G. Breed, AP National Writer
In Palm Beach, joining the country club -- and the Madoff club -- were ultimate sign of prestige
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- To get accepted as a member at the Palm Beach Country Club -- founded by Jews during the 1950s when the other clubs in this exclusive resort town were restricted -- you have to be more than rich. You have to be a real mensch, a person of character.
ADVERTISEMENT
And the way to prove that is to show that you contribute a fortune every year to charity.
Bernard Madoff passed that test long ago, something his fellow members have suddenly come to regret.
Prosecutors say Madoff preyed on club members, scamming them for millions dollars and betraying the trust that is so valued inside the walls of the exclusive club.
Ninety-five-year-old Carl J. Shapiro, who thought of Madoff as a son and vouched for him with many fellow club members, told the Palm Beach Daily News that the revelations of Madoff's trickery were like "a knife in the heart."
"I think people felt that way, that he was part of the family. That's even worse," says Richard Bernstein, who has insured the assets of several club members. "A lot of people knew him for a long time. They didn't just meet him yesterday."
Even by the princely standards of this barrier island resort, the reported $300,000 initiation fee at the Palm Beach Country Club is phenomenal. But people like Madoff can't just buy their way in.
They must also prove themselves worthy.
Before a prospective member is admitted, they must demonstrate a history of annual charitable giving of at least the amount of that membership fee, says Palm Beach accountant Richard Rampell, who has many clients and friends at the club. And a substantial portion of that giving has to have been to Jewish charities, he says.
"And, believe me, there are people there that can do that with ease," the Palm Beach man says. "And that's sort of the common thread, common denominator for these people. They have to be philanthropic before they'll let them in."
At one time, Wall Street money man Madoff (pronounced MAY-doff) had been considered worthy of membership. His $19 million foundation gave to various Jewish and civic causes in New York and elsewhere.
In the end, the many millions allegedly swindled from country club members are a small fraction of the overall total. But the closeness of this community and the damage done to its charitable work make the betrayal here all the more shocking.
Situated on the Atlantic Ocean and sequestered behind high, immaculately trimmed hedges, the Palm Beach Country Club is a place born out of anti-Semitic prejudice.
The resort was built in 1916 by the Florida East Coast Co. on the site of a former gun club. It quickly became one of the most popular venues in Palm Beach.
Families with names like Whitney, Peabody and Hutton came to enjoy the ocean breezes and play the challenging 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed golf course.
Despite their wealth and accomplishments, the area's Jewish residents were not welcome at these "Christian" establishments. So in 1952, a group of investors purchased the club for a reported $1 million and redesigned the clubhouse with a slate roof and stucco exterior punctuated by rows of stately arched windows.
Among the founding members was Ukranian-born cigar mogul Samuel Paley, father of media magnate William S. Paley. Turned down at other clubs, Irish Catholic Joseph Kennedy exacted a "gleeful revenge," according to one author, when the club took him in.
Country clubs are famous as places where large business deals are worked out with a handshake on the sixth tee. Because of its history, Rampell says this kind of "country club investing" was especially prevalent along Ocean Boulevard.
Rampell first came in contact with Madoff's investment firm back in 1985, when one of his clients invested $5 million with the part-time Palm Beacher. As he recalled, the client was introduced to Madoff by Shapiro or a member of his family.
When the investment had grown to about $10 million, the client decided he didn't want so much of his net worth concentrated with just one portfolio manager, "which is what Mr. Madoff was basically." So he began taking his income out at the end of every year.
"As I recall, it was around 17 or 18 percent back then," says Rampell. "And so he would take out $1.7 million a year or whatever the amount."
Rampell says the client would ask for more every once in a while, "just to check up on Madoff."
"He might say, `I want $3 million or $4 million out,'" the accountant says. "And he'd always get his distributions timely and his redemptions timely. So there was never any indication that there would be any kind of problem with this."
Rampell once asked Madoff how he did it. The New Yorker gave an enigmatic reply: "I can make money when the market goes up. I can make money when the market goes down. I cannot make money when the market stays flat."
"It led me to believe he was doing some kind of day-trading," says Rampell. "And, of course, at the end of every year we'd get the client statements, and ... he would always close out all the accounts, all the securities accounts, and just put all the money in Treasury bills at the end of the year. That's what he would always do. That's what the paper showed."
Over the years, the minimum investment with Madoff would grow from $1 million to $5 million to $10 million, Rampell says. As the returns stayed steady, Rampell says, "a little bit of a mystique" grew around Madoff at the club.
You had to know someone to invest. And all of the money was handled through individual accounts.
"It was almost like you were getting let into the club of investors, and everybody wanted to be in," says Rampell, who was offered, but never accepted, a chance to invest. "He was like, `Oh, wow! You've got a Madoff account.'"
As it turned out, those who opted out of Madoff's exclusive "club" were the lucky ones.
According to prosecutors, Madoff told employees last week that his fund had been insolvent for years, and it was basically an elaborate "Ponzi" scheme, using money paid in by new investors to pay off others. The damage stretches around the globe, affecting individuals, banks and charities.
Perhaps nowhere was the concentration of loss -- both financial and personal -- greater than at the Palm Beach Country Club, not far from Madoff's $9.4 million home. Some reports say as many as a third of the club's 300 or so members had money invested with Madoff.
"I'm really beside myself because of all of this," Madoff investor Carol Feinberg Cohen, 80, a club member who has a home in the same guarded development as Carl Shapiro, told The Associated Press Wednesday in a brief telephone conversation.
Shapiro, who made his fortune in textiles, told the local paper he's known Madoff for nearly five decades -- that Madoff sat at the family table at Shapiro's 95th birthday party, traveled with him and even played with his great-grandchildren.
"I'll never believe this, what he did to people," Shapiro's wife, Ruth, told the paper. "Some are completely wiped out. They have nothing left. Nothing."
In the scandal's wake, Shapiro and his son-in-law, Robert Jaffe, say they are as much victims of Madoff as anyone else and trying to prevent the smear of his misdeeds from tainting their own reputations.
"The Jaffes and the Shapiros were viewed as among Madoff's closest friends and were, therefore, asked to make introductions to Madoff," family publicist Carey O'Donnell said Wednesday in a statement issued to the AP. "Neither Mr. Jaffee or Mr. Shapiro ever recruited investors on Madoff's behalf."
Rampell says none of his clients was wiped out financially. But he says they've lost something even more precious than money -- their willingness to trust has been compromised.
"It's the Madoff maelstrom," he says. "I did hear a lot of people say, `Yes. Madoff. He made off with all of our money.'"
Thursday December 18, 2:19 am ET
By Allen G. Breed, AP National Writer
In Palm Beach, joining the country club -- and the Madoff club -- were ultimate sign of prestige
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- To get accepted as a member at the Palm Beach Country Club -- founded by Jews during the 1950s when the other clubs in this exclusive resort town were restricted -- you have to be more than rich. You have to be a real mensch, a person of character.
ADVERTISEMENT
And the way to prove that is to show that you contribute a fortune every year to charity.
Bernard Madoff passed that test long ago, something his fellow members have suddenly come to regret.
Prosecutors say Madoff preyed on club members, scamming them for millions dollars and betraying the trust that is so valued inside the walls of the exclusive club.
Ninety-five-year-old Carl J. Shapiro, who thought of Madoff as a son and vouched for him with many fellow club members, told the Palm Beach Daily News that the revelations of Madoff's trickery were like "a knife in the heart."
"I think people felt that way, that he was part of the family. That's even worse," says Richard Bernstein, who has insured the assets of several club members. "A lot of people knew him for a long time. They didn't just meet him yesterday."
Even by the princely standards of this barrier island resort, the reported $300,000 initiation fee at the Palm Beach Country Club is phenomenal. But people like Madoff can't just buy their way in.
They must also prove themselves worthy.
Before a prospective member is admitted, they must demonstrate a history of annual charitable giving of at least the amount of that membership fee, says Palm Beach accountant Richard Rampell, who has many clients and friends at the club. And a substantial portion of that giving has to have been to Jewish charities, he says.
"And, believe me, there are people there that can do that with ease," the Palm Beach man says. "And that's sort of the common thread, common denominator for these people. They have to be philanthropic before they'll let them in."
At one time, Wall Street money man Madoff (pronounced MAY-doff) had been considered worthy of membership. His $19 million foundation gave to various Jewish and civic causes in New York and elsewhere.
In the end, the many millions allegedly swindled from country club members are a small fraction of the overall total. But the closeness of this community and the damage done to its charitable work make the betrayal here all the more shocking.
Situated on the Atlantic Ocean and sequestered behind high, immaculately trimmed hedges, the Palm Beach Country Club is a place born out of anti-Semitic prejudice.
The resort was built in 1916 by the Florida East Coast Co. on the site of a former gun club. It quickly became one of the most popular venues in Palm Beach.
Families with names like Whitney, Peabody and Hutton came to enjoy the ocean breezes and play the challenging 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed golf course.
Despite their wealth and accomplishments, the area's Jewish residents were not welcome at these "Christian" establishments. So in 1952, a group of investors purchased the club for a reported $1 million and redesigned the clubhouse with a slate roof and stucco exterior punctuated by rows of stately arched windows.
Among the founding members was Ukranian-born cigar mogul Samuel Paley, father of media magnate William S. Paley. Turned down at other clubs, Irish Catholic Joseph Kennedy exacted a "gleeful revenge," according to one author, when the club took him in.
Country clubs are famous as places where large business deals are worked out with a handshake on the sixth tee. Because of its history, Rampell says this kind of "country club investing" was especially prevalent along Ocean Boulevard.
Rampell first came in contact with Madoff's investment firm back in 1985, when one of his clients invested $5 million with the part-time Palm Beacher. As he recalled, the client was introduced to Madoff by Shapiro or a member of his family.
When the investment had grown to about $10 million, the client decided he didn't want so much of his net worth concentrated with just one portfolio manager, "which is what Mr. Madoff was basically." So he began taking his income out at the end of every year.
"As I recall, it was around 17 or 18 percent back then," says Rampell. "And so he would take out $1.7 million a year or whatever the amount."
Rampell says the client would ask for more every once in a while, "just to check up on Madoff."
"He might say, `I want $3 million or $4 million out,'" the accountant says. "And he'd always get his distributions timely and his redemptions timely. So there was never any indication that there would be any kind of problem with this."
Rampell once asked Madoff how he did it. The New Yorker gave an enigmatic reply: "I can make money when the market goes up. I can make money when the market goes down. I cannot make money when the market stays flat."
"It led me to believe he was doing some kind of day-trading," says Rampell. "And, of course, at the end of every year we'd get the client statements, and ... he would always close out all the accounts, all the securities accounts, and just put all the money in Treasury bills at the end of the year. That's what he would always do. That's what the paper showed."
Over the years, the minimum investment with Madoff would grow from $1 million to $5 million to $10 million, Rampell says. As the returns stayed steady, Rampell says, "a little bit of a mystique" grew around Madoff at the club.
You had to know someone to invest. And all of the money was handled through individual accounts.
"It was almost like you were getting let into the club of investors, and everybody wanted to be in," says Rampell, who was offered, but never accepted, a chance to invest. "He was like, `Oh, wow! You've got a Madoff account.'"
As it turned out, those who opted out of Madoff's exclusive "club" were the lucky ones.
According to prosecutors, Madoff told employees last week that his fund had been insolvent for years, and it was basically an elaborate "Ponzi" scheme, using money paid in by new investors to pay off others. The damage stretches around the globe, affecting individuals, banks and charities.
Perhaps nowhere was the concentration of loss -- both financial and personal -- greater than at the Palm Beach Country Club, not far from Madoff's $9.4 million home. Some reports say as many as a third of the club's 300 or so members had money invested with Madoff.
"I'm really beside myself because of all of this," Madoff investor Carol Feinberg Cohen, 80, a club member who has a home in the same guarded development as Carl Shapiro, told The Associated Press Wednesday in a brief telephone conversation.
Shapiro, who made his fortune in textiles, told the local paper he's known Madoff for nearly five decades -- that Madoff sat at the family table at Shapiro's 95th birthday party, traveled with him and even played with his great-grandchildren.
"I'll never believe this, what he did to people," Shapiro's wife, Ruth, told the paper. "Some are completely wiped out. They have nothing left. Nothing."
In the scandal's wake, Shapiro and his son-in-law, Robert Jaffe, say they are as much victims of Madoff as anyone else and trying to prevent the smear of his misdeeds from tainting their own reputations.
"The Jaffes and the Shapiros were viewed as among Madoff's closest friends and were, therefore, asked to make introductions to Madoff," family publicist Carey O'Donnell said Wednesday in a statement issued to the AP. "Neither Mr. Jaffee or Mr. Shapiro ever recruited investors on Madoff's behalf."
Rampell says none of his clients was wiped out financially. But he says they've lost something even more precious than money -- their willingness to trust has been compromised.
"It's the Madoff maelstrom," he says. "I did hear a lot of people say, `Yes. Madoff. He made off with all of our money.'"
Here we go again...another bailout. No surprise given that many of the "victims" (ie. anyone w/a Net Worth between $100 million and $500 million) were probably contributors to Democratic and Republican campaigns.
Madoff’s Victims May Recover Some Losses Through U.S. Tax Code
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Individual investors who lost money in Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion fraud may be able to recover some of their money by seeking tax refunds.
“The Madoff debacle will result in what amounts to another federal government bailout,” said Warren Kessler, an attorney at the Los Angeles law firm Kessler & Kessler. “It is likely that the Treasury will wind up refunding taxes,” at least on the loss of money individuals invested with Madoff, he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aetfQKuh.SYA&refer=home
Madoff’s Victims May Recover Some Losses Through U.S. Tax Code
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Individual investors who lost money in Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion fraud may be able to recover some of their money by seeking tax refunds.
“The Madoff debacle will result in what amounts to another federal government bailout,” said Warren Kessler, an attorney at the Los Angeles law firm Kessler & Kessler. “It is likely that the Treasury will wind up refunding taxes,” at least on the loss of money individuals invested with Madoff, he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aetfQKuh.SYA&refer=home
