Was Madoff 'Victim' and Best Friend an Accomplice?

Chris Hondros / Getty Images New evidence suggests Bernie had powerful accomplices in his scheme—philanthropist Norman Levy and a second accountant. Lucinda Franks reports on the international investigation.

It has always been hard to believe that Bernie Madoff acted alone to carry off his labyrinthine conspiracy. Now new evidence about two key associates—the late Norman Levy, a real-estate mogul and philanthropist who has previously been portrayed as a victim, and Paul Konigsberg, a second accountant for Madoff—begins to reveal that he may have had a powerful network of accomplices whom investigators on a U.S.-U.K. task force believe were involved in an international transfer of money.

"All these people, we think they were in it together," a source with knowledge of the investigation explains. "That is what we are trying to gather evidence to prove.”

Levy is believed to have helped accountant Paul Konigsberg funnel checks to London. And investigators in New York say there were apparently billions of dollars worth of checks going back and forth to between Madoff and Levy (or someone using Levy’s name).

"Konigsberg and Levy were very close to the center of Madoff action," the source continued. Levy was a towering figure in New York real estate—at one point he owned the Seagram Building—and he and Bernie Madoff had a special bond. Ruth and Bernie Madoff had an intimate relationship with Levy and his wife, Betty. Madoff and Levy contributed to many of the same causes and philanthropic organizations, including New York’s Yeshiva University and several smaller, more arcane charities such as Gift of Life, a South Florida charity for Jewish leukemia victims.

Madoff was long known to have been Levy's "fixer," obtaining everything from choice restaurant reservations to emergency medical care. Levy had offices one floor below Madoff's in New York’s Lipstick Building. It was Levy who introduced high-profile investors to Madoff.

One of those investors was Levy’s longtime girlfriend—following the death of his wife—model Carmen Dell’Orefice. In an April 2009 Vanity Fair article, which portrays Levy as a father figure betrayed by Bernie’s scheme, Dell’Orefice spoke of vacationing with the Madoffs, socializing in New York, Palm Beach, and the south of France, and celebrating birthdays and holidays together. But, Dell’Orefice told the magazine, “Norman and Bernie never talked business, except on the telephone.”

When Norman Levy died in 2005 at the age of 93, Madoff extolled him as a man whose friendship he had cherished and who had "taught me so much." Around the time Madoff’s business crashed, Levy's son Francis told Fox Business News that his father believed in Madoff: "If there's one honorable person,” he said, “it's Bernie." Shortly afterward, Levy's daughter, Jeanne Levy-Church, had to close the doors of her beloved foundation, JEHT, which helped the less fortunate, especially ex-convicts, because all her funds had been invested in this honorable man's business.

The extent and nature of Levy’s involvement is not yet fully known. Levy is believed to have helped accountant Paul Konigsberg funnel checks to London. And investigators in New York say there were apparently billions of dollars worth of checks going back and forth between Madoff and Levy (or someone using Levy’s name). Levy's family members could not be reached for comment.

Sources in London also reveal that a general ledger of Madoff accounts listed Konigsberg, of the reputable accounting firm of Konigsberg, Wolf & Co., as receiving $30,000 a month to advise the MSIL operations, and funnel client checks to the London office for Madoff's own use.

Read a response from an attorney for Paul Konigsberg and Konigsberg, Wolf