Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

[ST]

ROBERT POWELL
The Madoff scheme hits home
Commentary: Wife's job, entire 401(k) disappear along with a good cause

By Robert Powell, MarketWatch
Last update: 12:16 p.m. EST Dec. 15, 2008

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- For much of my life, the name Bernie Madoff has meant nothing to me. Now, however, it means far more than it should in my household and countless others across America. In my household, the net effect of the Madoff scheme is that my wife has lost all the money in her 401(k) account and her job as well.

But that's only part of the story. She worked at a private foundation that shut its doors last Friday, its assets -- all of which were "managed" by Madoff's firm -- frozen by court order.

The head of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation spent his hard-earned money on a cause that affected thousands of people who lived in the Jewish community north of Boston. And now, that cause -- in the absence of anyone or any group of people and organizations stepping up -- will become a memory instead of a legacy.

-continued here-

[Sapiens]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

Bernie is a patsy, you have no clue what's right now unraveling on the other hand, LOL, you ever seen homeless millionaires? Well, you are about to see lots of them. Hint: Bob Rubin

[due_indigence]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

I have no inside information with which to nod-nod-wink-wink with, but this has the feel of a little shoe preceding a very big shoe. I'm not big on consrpiract theories but I''m seeing grassy knoll, not lone gunman. Even allowing for bureacratic ineptitude, there were too many lost chances. Even the Keystone Cops made a right turn once in awhile. Fanciful yes, but I keep thinking of the 52-year-old Swiss banker who took his life earlier this month. Penny for his prognostication. A rose-colored future just ahead?

[Sapiens]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

I have no inside information with which to nod-nod-wink-wink with, but this has the feel of a little shoe preceding a very big shoe. I'm not big on consrpiract theories but I''m seeing grassy knoll, not lone gunman. Even allowing for bureacratic ineptitude, there were too many lost chances. Even the Keystone Cops made a right turn once in awhile. Fanciful yes, but I keep thinking of the 52-year-old Swiss banker who took his life earlier this month. Penny for his prognostication. A rose-colored future just ahead?

Alex Widmer? Of Julius Baer?

[due_indigence]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

Yes Widmer, that's him. I'm not alleging causality. Then of course there was the Rudolf Elmer/ Baer money-laundering scandal early in 2008. Just a lot of dots in a lot of muck.

[mercerbear]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

Bernie is a patsy, you have no clue what's right now unraveling on the other hand, LOL, you ever seen homeless millionaires? Well, you are about to see lots of them. Hint: Bob Rubin

Oh Sapiens, how I would like to know what you do.....The thought I can't shake is the seeming infeasibility of one man pulling this massive scam by himself with no co-conspirators. I'm ultra shorting that theory. We are certainly living interesting times.

[goadam1]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

His confession came quick. I'm sure many are connected and are not going to be named. You never heard about clients 1 through 8 from the spitzer case. That was sex. I wonder if he will suddenly "kill" himself.

[Guest]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

There's a lesson here about diversification in these times. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, spread it around, you never know who's going down. And check out your company's 401k plan. If it's something shady liek this, consider biting the bullet and taking your money out or at least discontinuing non-matched contributions or even all contributions and max out IRAs you control instead, to the extent possible.

[metalman]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

There's a lesson here about diversification in these times. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, spread it around, you never know who's going down. And check out your company's 401k plan. If it's something shady liek this, consider biting the bullet and taking your money out or at least discontinuing non-matched contributions or even all contributions and max out IRAs you control instead, to the extent possible.

all these wiped out rich people. in away, i'm sad. in a way, i laugh.

what a bunch of ******* morons.

read the fine print, like joe six and his credit card agreement.

[GRG55]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

all these wiped out rich people. in away, i'm sad. in a way, i laugh.

what a bunch of ******* morons.

read the fine print, like joe six and his credit card agreement.

No matter what the situation there's two things I will not ignore:

1. What goes around, comes around; and
2. Always treat your employees well. You never know when you may be working for one of them.

[metalman]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

No matter what the situation there's two things I will not ignore:

1. What goes around, comes around; and
2. Always treat your employees well. You never know when you may be working for one of them.

treat everyone well. life is short.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...cY8&refer=home

The answer to how much money was actually lost will be the job of forensic accountants to discover. In an era of hyper- leverage, the total may never be precisely known.

What we do know is that the losses were accumulated piece by piece, investor by investor. Bloomberg News reporters have received e-mail inquiries from a number of people who claim to be Madoff clients, and each one is compelling as a human story of loss.

We reprint here this correspondence, with initials instead of names to protect privacy. The typography of the e-mails hasn’t been altered:

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What happens to people that were not tipped off in advance about this. It appears some people got their money out. I have a retired client who is now, more than likely, broke. If you know anything I can tell her, it would be appreciated.

S.M.

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What is going to happen to the little guys who have invested money w/him? My family and I have invested w/Bernard. Does this mean the money that we invested is all gone? Is there anyway to get some or all of it back? I know this has affected a lot of people/companies. I am worried that the big companies will be taken care of before the individuals (little guys). My uncle has his lawyers investigating this but I was wondering if you had any suggestions? This is very stressful. The money we had in our account was our nest egg. Thank you in advance for your time/feedback.

L.C.

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As an individual investor (in a small family Limited Partnership) in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, I have been unable to determine from any article or the complaint filed by the US Attorney’s office whether or not investments in the above referenced funds are affected by the alleged fraud by Bernard Madoff of what appears to be a separate investment advisory business involving 11 to 25 individuals and/or institutional investors apparently, according to reports controlled solely by Bernard Madoff himself.

I and a number of friends have been invested in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC for years, with total investments in excess of $10MM in the aggregate. Any light you can shed upon this question would be greatly appreciated by quite a few people at my end, not to mention many others whom I do not know elsewhere.

W.G.

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I am a retired business man living in Florida. Just about all my money is invested with Madoff Securities. I have been using that money to live on. Based on what is known so far, can you tell me how badly I have been hurt and if there is anything I should be doing to possibly protect myself or preserve my assets. I appreciate any advice you can give me. Please email me or call me . . .

H.S.

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I have just read the article regarding the Madoff investments. Could you please tell me what investors are supposed do in wake of this news? Or provide any detail that you may have come across in your research for this story?

Both my grandmother and parents invested funds with the firm. We are very concerned. Please advise.

Thank you,

V.G.

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We are a long time investor in Madoff with millions of dollars there. We can’t get any information? Do you know anything about how much of the investors assets are left?

S.K.

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I am one of the little guys who has money invested at Madoff. My father was an investor with the company for 30 years, and when he died in 2006 he left money in trust for my children and my wife which is invested in Madoff accounts. Based on what he told me of the firm, I also invested the money he left to me. All totaled we have about $2,800,000 in four accounts. Needless to say I am feeling pretty sick to my stomach this evening. At this point do you have any idea of whether there is (or will be) any money to distribute to account holders. Any information you can provide would be appreciated (that is an understatement for sure). Thank you.

J.N.

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I am an 86 year old widow who had her total money with Madoff. I have read the internet stories but would be interested to learn more about the prospects of getting any money out of this situation. If you have any information or can direct me to how I can get some information I would be very grateful.

H.G.

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Could you please assist greatly by providing what actions I can take re: Bernard Madoff (re: your “Madoff Charged in Fraud Said to Total More Than $20 Billion” article). My parents have all their life savings with him in several accounts, including IRAs. Do you happen to know whether any insurance covers the accounts, especially the IRAs? We would very much appreciate hearing from you on what actions we can take. THANK YOU!

W.G.

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My family has a lot of money invested with Madoff securities. What can we do to salvage our investment? Just read the news and we are in a panic.

I.S.

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What if we had money with this firm is it lost forever

Please call me. . . .

D.S.

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Bernard has handled my grandfather’s money for years. Have you ever seen the detail to his monthly statements? I’d be of the belief that there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Regards,

E.T.

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Off-record - no quotes please, Do you know if accounts were segregated as are normal brokerage accounts? I cannot tell from your story if the brokerage accounts were just slush funds. Also, are you suggesting individual accounts will be frozen and that investors will not be able to pull out their money?

I am...writing to you on behalf of my father. He opened an account with Madoff last month.

Any more insights would be greatly appreciated. My father’s assets are at stake. Thanks.

D.S.

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My daughter who is a single mother of three young children and I, a widow, have lost all of her money and over 2 million of mine. We have had accounts at Madoff for 16 years. What can we do to retrieve any of the money?

Thank you. I am in shock.

L.W.

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my elderly mother had ALL her life savings invested with this guy. she is of course distraught and i am worried for her health. please can you provide some guidance - where the investors should turn to at this point? what should they do???

D.S.

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I am absolutely appalled by the arrest of Bernard Madoff. My father has a very substantial investment with his firm and is, at the moment, out of the country and not reachable. Is there any word on whether my father’s account is worth anything? Is there something that he should be doing, or is it too late? What does it mean that Madoff was making distributions to select employees, friends and family?

How could this happen?????? Sincerely,

R.B.1

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

treat everyone well. life is short.

Here here!

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

Yes Widmer, that's him. I'm not alleging causality. Then of course there was the Rudolf Elmer/ Baer money-laundering scandal early in 2008. Just a lot of dots in a lot of muck.

I always thought that guy involved in Enron that offed himself seemed a bit curious, considering he wasn't really at fault.

However, I think this guy is a just a rogue trader. Ponzi schemes are pretty common. More common than you might imagine. Anyone can get into deep and somehow think they can dig themselves out of the hole. This is pretty typical behaviour on wall street.

Ponzi schemes tend not to come to light when things are going well.

It only makes sense that these are showing up as the tide comes in and we see who's been swimming naked.

[Shakespear]

Re: Madoff scheme hits (his) home-Marketwatch columnist

Some excellent comments found here

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12...-smells-funny/

and then this little gem from Harvard

http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidpublic...ter_051130.pdf

:mad: