Mini-Madoffs Pile Up

Call them the mini-Madoffs. They may have stolen from investors a fraction of Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion haul, but others caught running Ponzi schemes have been turning up in record numbers in recent weeks. What’s causing them to surface now? The New York Times reports it’s a “combination of a deteriorating economy and heightened skepticism about outsize returns after the revelations about Mr. Madoff.” Among the gems The Times digs up: New Yorker Nicholas Cosmo (he promised 48 to 80 percent returns), Haitian immigrant George Theodule (“man of God”), and Arthur Nadel (Sarasota philanthropist), as well as disgraced Clinton donor Norman Hsu (remember him?).