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The Next Targets in the Madoff Case
“These client funds moved through English banks were pocketed by the Madoff family,” said a US source familiar with the British investigation.
One source said that eventually, some members of Madoff’s family will either be indicted by the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York or cop a plea. “You have to look at the fact that Peter and [his daughter] Shana were compliance officers; they were supposed to look at all the statements to see if they were right,” the source said. “Either they asked no questions, turned a blind eye, or they could not help but see the falsified trade tickets of blue-chip companies sent to clients.”
The source continued: “There was an awesome amount of money going through that operation every day. There was so much going on. Don’t you think they talked to each other? Ruth was the bookkeeper, the sons Andrew and Mark were right there in the shop. If they didn’t know what was happening, they were not doing their job, and Madoff could count on them not doing their job. And if they were doing their job, they knew what was happening.”
This source, along with other people close to the investigation, does not expect the feds to bring more indictments on Thursday, when Madoff enters his plea. These additional cases will be developed over the next months.
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Secretary of State William Galvin has uncovered possible fraud in Cohmad Securities, a feeder fund started by Madoff and Maurice and Marcia Cohn that shared office space with Madoff Investments in Boston. A long complaint alleges that Cohmad was little more than a Madoff front that received most of its income in payments for bringing investors into Madoff funds. It was also a conduit for similar payoffs to at least one European broker, Sonja Kohn, who was paid in excess of $500,000 in 2007 even though she was not officially registered in any capacity with Cohmad.
The Cohns have so far refused to answer questions, and Cohmad vice president Robert Jaffee—identified by several Madoff victims as the person who steered them to Madoff funds—first requested a long series of delays for his deposition, then invoked the Fifth Amendment.
Lucinda Franks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who was on the staff of the New York Times and has written for several publications including the New Yorker and the New York Times Book Review and Magazine. Her latest book is My Father's Secret War, about her father, who was a spy for the OSS during World War II.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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Sources: Madoff Indictments Imminent
Lucinda Franks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who was on the staff of the New York Times and has written for the New Yorker and the New York Times Book Review and Magazine. Her latest book is My Father's Secret War, about her father, who was a spy for the OSS during World War II.
Madoff's Other Girlfriends
Lucinda Franks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who was on the staff of the New York Times and has written for the New Yorker and the New York Times Book Review and Magazine. Her latest book is My Father's Secret War, about her father, who was a spy for the OSS during World War II.
Ruth's $45 Million Stash
Allan Dodds Frank is a business investigative correspondent who specializes in white collar crime. He also is President of the Overseas Press Club of America, one of the many journalism organizations that protests the arrests of journalists abroad and repression of freedom of speech.
Lucinda Franks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who was on the staff of the New York Times and has written for the New Yorker and the New York Times Book Review and Magazine. Her latest book is My Father's Secret War, about her father, who was a spy for the OSS during World War II.
LadyG2
This is getting more intriguing by the day. MF couldn't have done it on his own. Can't wait for the next chapter!
Catwoman
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DWIGHTBAKER
POOR BERNIE MADCOW
Yes he finally got caught ---- so what???? Where is the money Bernie???? I have got a remedy for those that steal big bucks then have selective memory defaults. OK bud--- off to solitary confinement you go with bread and water as your fine meal ticket once a day ----till your memory gets far better than it is now or until your fines are paid that account right now to the tune of $35 billion.
gangwayjan
As a gentile, I'm not sure I understand your comment "opedanderson": You think no one did anything because Madoff was Jew? The SEC covered up because he was a Jew? You say "had it gone well, gentiles would have never heard of Bernie Madoff" . " How could it have ever "gone well"? It was a Ponzi scheme, for goodness sake, sooner or later, it would have blown up! There are nogoodniks of every religious stripe; Bernie set upon his own, but "anti-semetic thoughts" about the people who were hoodwinked by this putz? Go see your priest or minister or mullah or monk -- you need to be shriven.
Justbreathe
I don't know why it would be hard for you to keep from blurting out an anti-semitic rant unless you are anti-semitic in the first place. I had heard of him, I'm not Jewish, I just read a lot about finance. Unless you have been under a rock you must know how well known he was on Wall Street and in the financial world. I think it is sad that people like you decide that it's okay to come out of your bigoted closet at times when people are down. I never heard of OJ Simpson before he killed his wife, because I was too young to know who he was, but it didn't make me suddenly want to attack all black people. Why don't you just own up to the fact you are a bigot and leave it at that?
Embers
Yum. I began reading DB for the Madoff coverage.
I think the fact that the participants are Jewish is incidental.
staceyc
re: investigators are zeroing in on at least 20 people, including family members.
It looks like this is only the tip of the iceberg!! also, re this:
"The US attorney's office is still trying to resolve what is tainted or clean money, what real property in the US is appropriate for the Madofffs to keep," the source said.
Hint: It's all TAINTED!! Ten years doing this and EVERYTHING they own is tainted. Spending time resolving something as ridiculous, with all of the people suffering in the wake of this big-story
Embers
Well said Justbreathe!
SueKatz
WHERE ARE THE OTHER PERPS?
Bernie Madoff is an easy target. He's a thief, we know his face, we've met some of his victims (individuals and non-profits) and he's been left to sit up in his $gazillion condo instead of pissing in a hole shared by some other dudes. I've ranted about Madoff on my blog Consenting Adult (www.suekatz.com) many times.
But how come we don't know the faces and personal stories of all the other criminals of capital that have done so much more to bring the world down? What about the heads of those banks that introduced nasty mortgages? What about those in charge of AIG or Freddy/Fanny? Can you tell me much about them? What about the Bush finance team? Why are some of them still in powerful positions after all their devastating deregulation, misrepresentation and inability to to notice what was happening on their watch? What about Henry Paulson passing around the billions on the basis of a short application and no conditions?
There's a lot of blame to go around - and I'd live to see just that.
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n--Y--stevedenverJohnny-Boy
opedanderson,
As a "gentile" myself, I have to say, your comment is some vile junk you are spewing, not even to mention absurd.
The list of suspects, victims and others involved in this epic fraud, as well as blind, deaf and stupid federal and institutional participants is far from limited to those of the Jewish faith, to even suggest otherwise is ignorant and repugnant.
roger37
Hey, opedanderson, Madoff was the CEO of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, fahchrissake! He was well known. Give us all a break with this bigoted bullshit that nobody heard about this because they were all Jews.
I don't think that old, bigoted farts like you can get senile and put in nursing homes fast enough (BTW, I'm 71). Then maybe the world will govern itself like adults.
jhub32
"The US attorney's office is still trying to resolve what is tainted or clean money, what real property in the US is appropriate for the Madofffs to keep"
Can someone explain to me why Madoff would be allowed to keep ANY money or property? If he stole $50 billion, then anything up to that amount should be confiscated and liquidated to pay back the victims. I don't get it.
DWIGHTBAKER
Please, what does being a thief ------- has to do with what race you were born to? How many of the mobsters have been of JEWISH ancestors? How many BIG SHOTS in HITLER's reign OF TERROR were from JEWISH HERITAGE? I must be missing something about BIGOTED VIEWS? Would somebody clue me in? To many and me it makes no matter who or what you are if you ---- offend the law and people regardless of what the offense is ---- you are defined as a felon.
rick164
I'll leave the absurd, bigoted remarks alone, except to point out that two of the biggest feeders--in the billions--were Walter Noel of Fairfield Greenwhich and Banco Santander. Both owned and controlled by Gentiles--that shouldn't make anyone dislike Gentiles.
I want to talk about what a poor quality article this is. Except to say that the investigators are focusing on the laundering through European banks, it is hard to see what is new here.
The fake trades were reported earlier this week, in greater detail, by the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, I realize this is a blog post, but it is full of bad grammar:
"as much assets as possible" should be "as MANY assets as possible"
"second group is comprised of" should be "second group is COMPOSED of" or "second group COMPRISES"
Thank you.
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