Madoff Had New Scam In Works When Arrested By Feds

Details

BERNIE'S BRAVADO
MADOFF'S DESPERATE ACTS TO SAVE FUND FROM IMPLOSION
By KAJA WHITEHOUSE and MARK DECAMBRE, NY Post

In a desperate bid to keep his sinking business afloat, disgraced Wall Street big Bernard Madoff demanded that friends and investors pump even more funds into his failing firm right up until the feds put the cuffs on him, The Post has learned.

Sources said that leading up to his shocking arrest on fraud charges, Madoff hit up good friend and business partner Robert Jaffe. He also asked for help from garmento Carl Shapiro, the first person to invest in Madoff's business and who's Jaffe's father-in-law.

Madoff's desperate, last-minute pleas for more money also extended to his hedge-fund investment partners, including Walter Noel's hedge-fund firm Fairfield Greenwich, a major Madoff promoter, sources told The Post.

Carey O'Donnell, a spokeswoman for the Jaffe-Shapiro family, was unable to confirm the amounts invested, but confirmed with The Post that the family "made an additional, significant investment" in recent weeks with Madoff's firm.

Madoff last Thursday was arrested after allegedly making the brazen confession that his investment-management business was a giant Ponzi scheme, triggering billions in losses. He is currently under house arrest.

In addition to being Madoff's buddy, Jaffe also was a promoter for Madoff, and was known in some circles as "the Recruiter" as part of his job running Cohmad Securities, a firm whose sole purpose was to market Madoff's investments.

It's unclear how much Jaffe and his wife, Ellen Shapiro Jaffe, invested with Madoff, but he's already under fire for his personal ties to the rogue investor.

According to some reports, Nine West founder Jerome Fisher, who is said to have lost $150 million as a result of Madoff's alleged misdeeds, exchanged heated words with Jaffe at a black-tie birthday party Saturday.

Meanwhile, the 95-year-old Shapiro has been reported to be among the biggest losers in the Madoff scandal given he has $400 million invested with Madoff, as well as $145 with his charitable foundation.

Madoff was also working with Fairfield Greenwich and other hedge-fund firms to raise money for a new batch of funds to attract more investors.

The new funds promised returns in the ballpark of 16 percent - higher than the existing Madoff funds - because they used more leverage than the 3-to-1 ratios that Madoff used in existing funds, one source said, adding that the plan was in the works as recently as Dec. 11 - the day Madoff was taken into custody by authorities.

One potential investor told The Post that Fairfield was telling investors on behalf of Madoff that they would be shut out of Madoff products in the future if they opted to withdraw from his existing funds or took a pass on participating in the new funds being set up.

[Hat Tip: JAG.]

Comments

[Jason]

I said this to Shmarya privately, and I'm sure I'll catch some flack for it, but in my opinion, if all these allegations turn out to be true, Madoff has caused more damage to the worldwide Jewish community than any individual since Hitler. He has damaged us reputationally, seemingly confirming every nasty stereotype about Jews, and he has damaged the lives of countless Jews (and non-Jews as well) whose money he lost and perhaps more importantly those who rely on the charities he pilfered.

Please don't misunderstand -- I did not just compare him to Hitler. I said since Hitler. This man has done more damage than 100 Rubashkins and will be the gift that keeps on giving if the trustee decides to exercise his rights under fraudulent conveyance doctrine and pull back money from those who received distributions over the last couple of years.

[Carol-Ann]

I hope thoughtful people will not generalize based on the actions of one unethical individual.

But, his example does point to the disparity of treatment between rich and poor.

[steve]

http://www.vosizneias.com/24460/2008/12/18/new-york-former-sheriff-of-wall-street-gov-spitzer-lost-money-by-bernie-the-ganef/

At one point, On the Media's Brooke Gladstone, who like Spitzer is Jewish, joked that "Bernie Madoff was worse for the Jews than anyone since David Berkowitz" and Spitzer replied, "Well, I was New York's second Jewish governor and look what I did."

BTW, the first Jewish governor of NY was Herbert Lehman of Lehman Brothers.

[why_think_that]

Jason -

He primarily ripped off Jews and Jewish charities.

Jew on Jew violence hehe

[why_think_that]

Jason -

He primarily ripped off Jews and Jewish charities.

Jew on Jew violence hehe

[why_think_that]

Jason -

He primarily ripped off Jews and Jewish charities.

Jew on Jew violence hehe

[Jason]

First of all, he did not primarily rip off Jews. Read the articles, some of the biggest losers were European financial institutions and other hedge funds that had assorted investors, not necessarily Jews. And even if the charities he did rip off were primarily Jewish, how does that change the calculation? It actually proves my point.

[phil]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_on_bi_ge/madoff_scandal_taxes

[Fleishike Kishke]

A lot of good people lost money with Bernie. But a lot of rich pricks who collected their "profits" and thought nothing of those Americans losing their homes and suffering in this economy lost their fortunes too. And personally I'm just a bit glad.

[Joachim Martillo]

I put my initial thoughts on the connection between the frauds of Zionism and of Madoff in Every Israel Advocate a Madoff.

It took about 10 minutes of googling for me to find a fairly close connection between Robert Vesco and Bernie Madoff.

Madoff got away with his fraud for so long because he worked the clandestine Jewish social business regulator network even as he preyed on the Jewish members of the network.

Jews have worked hard to make sure that US laws are enforced differently for Jews and non-Jews.

See One Law for All Americans. Note question 6 -- especially in the discussion section. As far as I am concerned, Bernie Madoff represents poetic justice for Jewish hubris (chutzpah).

[ah-pee-chorus]

i would make an argument that jonathan pollard was at least as bad for jews as this. and yet i wouldnt expect many jews to defend madoff as they have and continue to do vis a vis pollard. i have read that to this day it is much more difficult for any jew to obtain certain high-level security clearance because of pollard. this is even more applicable if the applicant has ever visited israel. and yet the modern orth community writes letters on his behalf!!!! his sentence was too long, israel was an ally. blah blah blah.

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

Maybe I've read too many novels by Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsythe, and lately Daniel Silva, but with the amount of money Madoff ripped off from European banks, I wouldn't be surprised if he died suddenly and/or mysteriously. I wouldn't imagine the defrauded owners of sports teams and car dealerships would sink to that level;-

Yetzer, Yetzer, RAH! RAH! RAH!

[ah-pee-chorus]

yeah, hadassah just called me and asked if i knew anyone 'on the inside' for a special assignment.. hmmmmm

[steve]

Jonathan Pollard is a hero. He passed information to Israel which was vital to its security, which the United States was required to do as an ally. The Defense Secretary at the time, Caspar Weinberger, y'mach shemo vezichro, refused to pass this information to Israel. He and other corrupt officials set up Pollard so that he should confess and still gave him a life sentence. Totally unheard of for "spying" for an ally. The man did his time already, twenty three years. It's time to set him free and undo this grave injustice. Contrast Pollard with Mondrowitz who has been free all this time while he should have been locked up. An even swap of Pollard for Mondrowitz should be made.

[ah-pee-chorus]

steve, we agree on mondrowitz. if pollard had wished to act altruistically on israels behalf, all he had to do was go to a few major papaers and tell them that the u.s. wasnt living up to a deal it had with israel. he didnt, rather he went on the payroll taking large sums of money. now imagine the story was that ahmed mohammed had sold info about israel to egypt that he stole from the u.s. using his security clearance. would you not want him to spend eternity in jail?

[ah-pee-chorus]

in addition, the records show that he copied and forwarded many documents that had nothing whatsoever to do with israel. but he took the money. what a hero.

[Shmarya]

I put my initial thoughts on the connection between the frauds of Zionism and of Madoff in Every Israel Advocate a Madoff.

Pathetic.

What a sick man you are.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Shmarya: Maybe he can work for Der Sturmer. They need an online edition.

[David F.]

Personally, I am very grateful that so many of Madoff's victims were Jewish.

An anti-Semite can say Madoff was a Jewish swindler, but since he preyed primarily on his own people, it's impossible to see this disaster as a conspiracy to defraud non-Jews.

Think how much worse this situation would be for Jews if Madoff had dealt honestly with his Jewish clients, while swindling Gentiles out of $50 billion!

[critical_minyan]

Was Madoff good for the Jews or bad for the Jews?
I know he was really, really, bad for some Jews.
Otherwise for every criminal like Madoff there are a hundred honest Jews.
In every country there are Ponzi Scams. In Albania they were run by the Government. In Brazil the Ponzi scams pay 30%. It makes sense to keep your money in Brazil Ponzi scams because the returns are much higher.
My advice is if you run into a drunk, anti-semitic Madoff investor in a bar, tell him you are a Goy. Otherwise, we should be fine.

[R]

What a time for this to happen though when the economy is in such bad shape as it is and the banks are being bailed out by the government and the government is thinking up new ponzi schemes in how to get more money from the public without them realising.
Suddenly Madoff comes along and over shadows them all with his ponzi scheme.
He screwed up the banks and building societies and charities that are anyway being hit hard now. Madoff should spend along time working for what he stole. basically let him do community service for life, if he sits in a jail it just means you are still paying for him with taxes. He can live in a one room crumbling shack and eat baked beans and have toast for weekends...or maybe he should live in a cardboard box like the homeless have to while he went and spent all that money that wasn't his and lived a life of abundant luxury.

[Jon]

Jonathan Pollard is a hero. He passed information to Israel which was vital to its security, which the United States was required to do as an ally. The Defense Secretary at the time, Caspar Weinberger, y'mach shemo vezichro, refused to pass this information to Israel. He and other corrupt officials set up Pollard so that he should confess and still gave him a life sentence. Totally unheard of for "spying" for an ally. The man did his time already, twenty three years. It's time to set him free and undo this grave injustice. Contrast Pollard with Mondrowitz who has been free all this time while he should have been locked up. An even swap of Pollard for Mondrowitz should be made.

Posted by: steve | December 18, 2008 at 08:30 PM

----------------------------------------

This looks like dual-loyalty to non-Jews.

Just thought I would point that out.

[Archie Bunker]

Shmarya, why are you critical of Joachim when his approach to Jews is similar to your approach to the Orthodox?

[Archie Bunker]

Fleishike kishka, you are a very disturbed individual.

What do you want rich people to do? Rip kriah and sit shiva for millions of idiots who bought homes they KNEW they could never afford?

And our tax dollars are going to be spent by the Socialists in the new Administration to bail the idiots out, so how do you even have a complaint?

[Archie Bunker]

I don't think it's possible to know the whole story with Pollard without seeing the classified reports.

[steve]

now imagine the story was that ahmed mohammed had sold info about israel to egypt that he stole from the u.s. using his security clearance. would you not want him to spend eternity in jail

Pollard passed on information about Saddam Hussein's nuclear capabilities. A nuclear Iraq is a common threat to Israel and the rest of the civilized world. This was information that was deliberately withheld by Weinberger who was anti-Israel. Your analogy doesn't hold up since you are comparing Israel, a U.S. ally, to Saddam Hussein's Iraq, an enemy of the entire civilized world.

Contrast the Pollard case with that of another accused spy, Steven J. Lalas, and you will see a clear double standard:

A former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Athens was sentenced yesterday to 14 years in federal prison for selling classified military documents -some identifying CIA agents- to the Greek government.

Steven J. Lalas, 40, began spying for the Greek government in 1977 when he was with the U.S. Army, authorities said. They estimated that he turned over as many as 700 highly classified documents, including papers describing U.S. activities in Bosnia. Most were obtained during a 10 year career with the State Department.

"This is one of the most serious offenses imaginable, and for one of the basest motives - greed", Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Hulkower said at the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

Lalas has been jailed since his arrest in April. The sentence handed down by Judge Claude M. Hilton does not allow for parole.

The former embassy employee said nothing in court yesterday but in June he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage. Although the charge carries a potential life prison term, prosecutors recommended the 14 year sentence in return for Lalas promise to reveal what documents he had turned over and to whom.

Yet in debriefings this summer prosecutors said Lalas did not reveal the full extent of his spying. They also said Lalas failed two FBI polygraph examinations.

The amazing thing is that despite Lalas' non-cooperation and his failures, the government still honored its plea agreement with him!

[Just a Goy]

> ' Pro-America, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, for Christian, Islamic and Jewish family values.' - Joachim Martillo

I have a real problem with your stance of, 'anti-Israel.'

[Jason]

Don't forget, this was not the first Ponzi scheme this year with an Orthodox connection. Wextrust specifically targeted the OJ community for its scheme. Not a good year for the Tribe.

[Archie Bunker]

What about all the people duped into "loaning" money to Rubashkin?

[Yochanan Lavie]

I think the kollel system is a sort of Ponzi scheme. There are just so many machers that can support just so many schnorrers (the genuine scholars will suffer when it collapses).

[Jason]

YL- it's a scam alright, but not technically a Ponzi scheme. Maybe a free rider problem?

[Yochanan Lavie]

Jason: A Ponsky scheme?

[Jason]

I'm all for calling things for what they are. Therefore I'm partial to Kollel Scheme.

There's a great piece of dialog in a good movie called "The Tao of Steve." In it, a good, old fashioned American slacker bemoans the criticism heaped on slackers when Buddhist monks are shown great respect and deference for their slacker-ness. Probably applies just as well to many kollel students:

DEX: Why is it that the good old-fashioned America slacker gets no respect for his detachment, but the Buddhist monk does?

SYD: Somehow I don't think your detachment is the same self-willed self-disciplined detachment of the Buddhist monk.

DEX: What do you think? You think all Buddhist monks are like the Dalai Lama?

You don't think there are guys in Nepal who are, like, "What should I do? Should I carry packs of heavy shit for Westerners to the top of the base camp of Everest? Or should I stay down here in Kathmandu and chant all day and check out chicks and pretend to be holy?"

Why is everything cooler when it happens in a foreign country?

[phil]

Madoff the crook & merkin the pimp & fool of the century:

http://biz.yahoo.com/hftn/081219/121608_madoff_hedges_fortune.html?.v=4

[Jackie Aldridge]

I don't think Madoff has ruined the reputation of Jews since he was so careful to rip off so many of them...
Really? I think Madoff probably started out honest, started to fail, tried a little dishonesty to keep his business going and just got carried away with it. Although arrogance and pride might have something to do with it (arrogance being "I deserve to live well" and pride being "I can't fail).
No, Haredi beating up on women in the street will get you hated. Scamming indiscriminately or principly your own won't.
Sympathies to you who were ripped off, if you didn't vote republican, and if you didn't give the Republicans money and if you didn't rip off other people somewhere in your life.

[Choni Davidowitz]

Keeping in mind that Jonathan Pollard received a life sentence, and Madoff, if convicted, will get 20 years at most; if one had to choose to fulfill the Mitzvah of "Release the Captive" who would it be?

P.S. For the past 23 years Chabad have done zilch about Pollard.

[John]

The Madoff dealings and the folks who ran the Postville packing plant help to reinforce my childhood stereotype that Jews like money and will do everything they can to acquire it. It is sad to see these happenings.

[John]

The Madoff dealings and the folks who ran the Postville packing plant help to reinforce my childhood stereotype that Jews like money and will do everything they can to acquire it. It is sad to see these happenings.

[Jackie Aldridge]

John, childhood stereotypes come from a failure to understand. And sometimes because one has prejudiced relatives teaching one ugly things. There are greedy people of all religions, ethnicities, races and kinds. There are good people of all kinds. Learn to discriminate in a good way.

[BaltimoreYid]

Ah! We all get such nachas!