$$$ Madoff Charged With Securities Fraud [WSJ]
$$$ Auto Bailout Appears Halted in Senate as G.O.P. Resists [NYT]
$$$ Why can’t these breasts get a bailout? [NYDN]
$$$ GM Hires Advisers to Weigh a Bankruptcy Filing [WSJ]
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Someone explain to me who Madoff is… (total new guy question)
How many fund of funds are toast?
There is a special place in hell reserved for Madoff. I may have to get a … a… a job.
@3 you have money with him or work for him?
@3 you have money with him or work for him?
HAD money with until about 4:29.
Anyone got any more info on this?
This cant be good for hedge funds…Just when you think it cant get any worse…
50% of his clients were hedge funds…
holy cripes… this is def. no good for the HFs
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8EVy7KVpBaA&refer=home
Madoff was dealing with some people…um..how do I say this…do not like to lose money.
First it’s Marc Dreier and now Madoff ripping off hedge funds. Jesus, they’re becoming the new widows and orphans, for chrissake.
@11, are you saying he’s mobbed up?
“Niederauer don’t want five guys named Vinnie executiving my trades.”
13- The alleged fraud is $50 BILLION.
When you start talking eight figures and above per head, a lot of people you deal with might as well be mobbed up if you rip them off…
I’m told by well-placed sources @ Scores that Sapphire is taking over
Strangely, the story has been removed from Bloomberg’s homepage…?
Why is the story on Madoff not even on Drudge, FT or the frontpage of Bloomberg if it’s so big?
@Anal_yst, well-placed sources?
Madofff is a market maker..
——————————-
Bernard Madoff Arrested Over Alleged Ponzi Scheme: WSJ
Wallace Witkowski
MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO — Bernard Madoff, who founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on alleged fraud, The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday on its Web site.
Charges against Madoff allege that he told senior employees on Wednesday that the firm was “a giant Ponzi scheme” after trying to distribute the “couple of hundred million dollars” he had left before turning himself in, according to the Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The alleged scheme involved tens of billions of dollars, the newspaper reported.
Th world has gone mad
@16 Taking over what?
The criminal complaint filed against Mr. Madoff alleges that he told senior employees Wednesday that his business was “a giant Ponzi scheme,” according to a person familiar with the matter. The alleged scheme involved tens of billions of dollars, but the extent of investor losses wasn’t immediately clear.
The disclosure came after Mr. Madoff tried to distribute early bonuses to employees of his firm, prompting questions by senior employees, a person familiar with the situation said.
Mr. Madoff, 70 years old, allegedly told employees he had a couple of hundred million dollars left and wanted to distribute it before turning himself in to authorities, this person said.
The world has not gone mad. The credit crunch forces all these scams and ponzi schemes to unwind. If liquidity didn’t dry up, we probably would never hear about these scams.
@19
“well placed sources”, come on, don’t make me spell it out for you champ
@22
taking over Scores
Note to self
Geezers (Jimmie,Sandy, Ace..now Bernie) aint no good with money
This is not so unbelievable. I know of a couple cases of hedge funds turning out to be pyramid schemes once the music stopped.
The scale, on the other hand…wow.
$17 Billion is gone…
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-293.htm
Make that $50 Billion
Yeah, someone is going to kill this guy.
Someone on WSJ commented this is not the biggest Ponzi of all. That would be Social Security and Medicare, and we are all forced to pay into that Ponzi scheme.
Add several hundred of their traders to layoffs & one senior exec who had personal millions $ in this pot
http://online.wsj.com/documents/madoffcomplaint.pdf
I was under the impression that Madoff was a market maker. I believe his firm pioneered the concept of “payment for order flow.” So how this translates into a $50 bn fraud is beyond me.
We got let the Enron, Worlcom, Tyco, Refco guys out …that shit was pennies
wtf has everyone gone retarded all at once?
Sounds like the old guy got wasted and was all depressed to boot, spilled his guts, and now everyone’s taking his drunken inebriated rambling literally.
Of course, it could just be the truth-syrum effects of alcohol, but to me, sounds like some bs drunken hyperbole.
He had an asset management advisory business that he was daytrading with.
He paid off losses, with new deposits.,
Freaken Ponzi, he used stamps…and this shit is still working 75 yrs later
Someone pitched a momentum style product run by his firm a while back. Basically it sat in cash and when the black box model filled with “proprietary market maker” data indicated that the market was favorable for a move up, it would move into futures. What that says is that, like many global macro funds that are being nailed for huge redemptions, his strategy has a ton of liquidity at almost all times. Given all the FoF and others need liquidity so badly, I imagine redemptions got big enough that he knew there was no covering it.
Insanity. Then again, it was all held in street name. No prime broker, no 3rd party or custody account, no anything. No info on the model, no questions answered. From what I’ve heard, no background checks approved and unfriendly non-productive due diligence.
Plenty of honest, transparent more coorperative people who will run your money in a safer manner. Play with fire, get burned.
Still it shocks me that this guy, who’s like a historical and permanent fixer was this crooked. Trust no one unless you are prepared to lose.
Insurance is the biggest ponzi scheme
Big shell game
madeoffwithalltheloot
Andrew M. Calamari, Associate Director of Enforcement in the SEC’s New York Regional Office, added, “Our complaint alleges a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions. Also, could we get some marinara sauce ova heare.”
http://www.streetinsider.com/General+News/Reports+Bernard+Madoff+Arrested+For+%22Giant+Ponzi+Scheme%22/4233403.html
http://www.mannoandcondon.com/grandpa.gif
Anyone know who the unfortunate clients were? $50B is shocking!
Well, the thing I love is this ahole was:
ernard Madoff served as vice chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers, a member of its board of governors, and chairman of its New York region, according to the SEC Web site. He was also a member of Nasdaq Stock Market’s board of governors and its executive committee and served as chairman of its trading committee.
He was chief of the Securities Industry Association’s trading committee in the 1990s and earlier this decade, where he represented brokerage firms in discussions with regulators about new stock-market rules as electronic-trading systems and networks gained prominence.
He was an early advocate for electronic trading, participating in roundtable discussions at the SEC as regulators weighed trading stocks in penny increments. His firm was among the first to make markets in New York Stock Exchange listed stocks outside of the Big Board, relying instead on Nasdaq.
I think the NASD and SEC should be eliminated. As FDR said “it takes a crook to catch a crook” so maybe BERNIE for the head of the new regulatory agency. Seriously, with BALD running the Treas and keeping his former boss in business of robbing us all, what else can happen?
One of the marketing channels Mr. Madoff used was the Palm Beach Country Club — the exclusive golf and beach club in Palm Beach that counts some of the area’s richest residents as members.
According to two members of the club, Mr. Madoff had an agent and at least one major investor at the club who would help attract new investors for the fund. Some members were told that one of the benefits of joining the Palm Beach Country Club was being able to invest with Mr. Mado
Bernard L.Madoff
Treasurer YESHIVA UNIVERSITY
already yanked from website…
http://74.125.47.132/u/YU?q=cache:GJCfcRD1QGEJ:www.yu.edu/sssbdinner/page.aspx%3Fid%3D20354+madoff+2008&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&ie=UTF-8
also white lettered on board page: http://www.yu.edu/board/
Greetings from
Bernard L. Madoff
Chairman of the Board,
Sy Syms School of Business
On behalf of the board of directors of the Sy Syms School of Business, I am delighted to welcome you all to tonight’s gala in honor of Dean Michael J. Ginzberg and distinguished alumni Rabbi Moshe (Martin) Blech, J.J. Sussman, and Deborah Ifrah.
This evening celebrates our accomplishments over the past year. Our new dean emboldens and enhances our school with his enterprising, dynamic vision for the future. It gives me great pleasure to partner with Dean Ginzberg and Yeshiva University to propel SSSB to higher levels of academic excellence and achievement.
Our students and alumni have brought together their friends and business associates for a wonderful evening of celebration and networking. Productive partnerships are an important part of business, and SSSB students and alumni have learned this lesson well. The achievements of our graduates are testaments to the exceptional education they have received at SSSB. Let us continue to strengthen our school and our relationships with one another.
I’d like to give great thanks to my fellow board member Warren Eisenberg for serving as honorary co-chair of this evening and my best wishes to all on this special celebration as we look to a future filled with promise.
HOLA LOL
Well, as http://www.madoff.com still says “The Owner’s Name is on the Door
In an era of faceless organizations owned by other equally faceless organizations, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC harks back to an earlier era in the financial world: The owner’s name is on the door. Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining the unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm’s hallmark. ” – As far as Dreier LLP is concerned “Dreier LLP was founded in 1996 by Marc Dreier to be a more responsive and innovative alternative to conventional “large-firm” lawyering.
Our mission is to give every client our full attention, sound advice and forceful representation at a carefully managed cost. We believe the results have set our firm apart.” , the results certainly set their firm apart.
Where , may I ask, are the regulators in all this ? I admit that nobody regulates the legal industry, since this is where regulators go after a sting in “regulation” to replenish their coffers, but surely, NASDR and SEC regulate brokers ?
9:27 PM – The New York Post still has no Madoff story up yet. Do they have staff? Must be the holiday party for them.
Well didn’t think Chris Cox could exceed Michael Brown’s incompetence (that benchmark was very high). I think he has now suceeded.
Heck of a job Coxie.
UMMMM Should this guy be on the DTCC which clears all of our trades ?????????????????????????
Peter B. Madoff has also been deeply involved in the NASD and other financial services regulatory organizations. He has served as vice chairman of the NASD, a member of its board of governors, and chairman of its New York region. He also has been actively involved in the NASDAQ Stock Market as a member of its board of governors and its executive committee and as chairman of its trading committee. He also has been president of the Security Traders Association of New York. He is a member of the board of directors of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. He is a member of the board of the Securities Industry Association.
Bernard and Peter Madoff have both played instrumental roles in the development of the fully computerized National Stock Exchange. Peter Madoff has been a member of its board of governors and has served on its executive committee. They have helped make the National Exchange the fastest growing regional stock exchange in the United States.
How did they let this douche post bail with stolen money obviously?
@51
yeah – 10mm too ; wow
WTF!!! Why would ANYONE possibly fess up to a ponzi scheme now? After two months of brutal ass raping in the markets you declare your fund down 80% and PEACE the fuck out. In fact all the hedgies should be cashing out using this strategy…why take a performance incentive when you can just take the loot. Who could blame you?
I was there when Maddof confessed to his business being a giant Ponzi scheme. First he laughed evilly. Then some of the employees started laughing evilly. Pretty soon we were all engaged in hysterical, knee-slapping evil laughing.
@47 More to the point, where are the auditors in all this? $50 BILLION in phantom money? I can’t recall who his auditors are, but presumably biggies (an onshore and an offshore) and I have to think they’re going down. My guess is that the auditors didn’t really bother auditing, because it was Bernie Madoff and they imagined he could be trusted.
I just google’d this asshole. It looks to me that he has only hired his family. So that would lead me to believe no independent group audited him or handled direct finances. If these allegations are correct, then the Feds should confiscate every dollar this asshole paid out to his family – - their houses, cars, beach properties etc. Americans have to know that the rest of us are honest citizens and care about them. It is one thing to be down in a terrible environment, but knowing Fraud and a ponzi scheme? They should lynch this guy and anyone involved in his scheme. A lynching of criminals is right. Hang this fucker high and do it tomorrow at 12 noon.
@51 Wideclops will house you
@57 who/what is wideclops
@58 Rule No. 1 of Wideclops is: You do not talk about Wideclops.
Fix is one fund
and Fairfield ZGreenwich is another
@58 you might get housed, too.
I just realized Fidelity does a ton of business with these guys – when I get my trade confirms it sometimes says MADOFF SECURITIES as the counter party. Anyone know more about their connection to FIDO?
fyi i know….i mean know karo and he aint all that or anything really ….but he is my boy still
@58, move to the back and sit down and shut up… http://www.rctech.net/forum/attachments/electric-off-road/311458d1202780167-tips-tricks-upgrades-tamiya-501x-worlds-edition-short-bus.jpg
Don’t make the Wideclops mad…
@62, it’s on your statement because Madoff is a market maker.
The alleged fraud is related to his investment advisory business. On the sec website, the firm is said to be currently managing approximately $17 billion.
Auto Bailout Bill is DEAD.
No vote – they do not have 60 votes in the senate. Bill will not be brought up for a vote.
He could have sold this for $50-100 million when La Branche, Spear Leeds and others sold/ipo’d
They have been disintermediated for last 5 yrs
Gotta know when to fold em
Dumb shit
greedy people getting f’ed over by other greedy people….
Fidelity was selling order flow to Madoff!
@68 Suck it Trebek
Is the market making business legally separate from the asset management business? I certainly hope so, for the sake of their employees and customers. I’d have to imagine it would get sold in order to reimburse the duped investors though if Made-off and his brother were the only owners.
63 et al: Are you guys serious now? Suck it up you moes
I doubt that anyone is going to be putting much business towards something with Madoff in its name right now. Just a thought…
yea, many fund of funds will be toast….heard tremont has position, and ubp has huge one! uh ohhhhh….
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Madoff&fname=Bernard+L
Democrat hell………. Bess, let me guess ?????????????? fundraise hint ?
The Auditors are going to Arthur Anderson land
You are alllllll suckers. Suck it up. don’t act the fool, and make it out of all the bullshit alive
You are alllllll suckers. Suck it up. don’t act the fool, and make it out of all the bullshit alive
You are alllllll suckers. Suck it up. don’t act the fool, and make it out of all the bullshit alive
I can’t wait to see the juicy details come outa this one, man, I gotta run to Costco or something and pick up the jumbo size movie butter popcorn for this one!
Madoff owned the market-making company as well, and that was actually a selling point:
“The Owner’s Name is on the Door
In an era of faceless organizations owned by other equally faceless organizations, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC harks back to an earlier era in the financial world: The owner’s name is on the door. Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining the unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm’s hallmark.
Bernard L. Madoff founded the investment firm that bears his name in 1960, soon after leaving law school. His brother, Peter B. Madoff, graduated from law school and joined the firm in 1970. While building the firm into a significant force in the securities industry, they have both been deeply involved in leading the dramatic transformation that has been underway in US securities trading.
Bernard L. Madoff has been a major figure in the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the major self-regulatory organization for US broker/dealer firms. The firm was one of the five broker/dealers most closely involved in developing the NASDAQ Stock Market. He has been chairman of the board of directors of the NASDAQ Stock Market as well as a member of the board of governors of the NASD and a member of numerous NASD committees.
One major US financial publication lauded Bernard Madoff for his role in “helping to make NASDAQ a faster, fairer, more efficient and more international system.” He has also served as a member of the board of directors of the Securities Industry Association.
Reflecting the growing international involvement of the firm, when Madoff Securities opened a London office in 1983, it would become one of the first US members of the London Stock Exchange. Bernard Madoff was also a founding member of the board of directors of the International Securities Clearing Corporation in London.
Peter B. Madoff has also been deeply involved in the NASD and other financial services regulatory organizations. He has served as vice chairman of the NASD, a member of its board of governors, and chairman of its New York region. He also has been actively involved in the NASDAQ Stock Market as a member of its board of governors and its executive committee and as chairman of its trading committee. He also has been president of the Security Traders Association of New York. He is a member of the board of directors of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. He is a member of the board of the Securities Industry Association.
Bernard and Peter Madoff have both played instrumental roles in the development of the fully computerized National Stock Exchange. Peter Madoff has been a member of its board of governors and has served on its executive committee. They have helped make the National Exchange the fastest growing regional stock exchange in the United States.
These positions of leadership not only indicate the deep interest Madoff Securities has shown in its industry, they also reflect the respect the firm and its management have achieved in the financial community.”
Even if those funds were segregated, it’s toast.
According to their last Form ADV (which says $17bn with 23 clients), the client breakdown was 51-75% fund of funds.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB989019667829349012.html
He said he lost $50 billion. So he was leveraged 3 : 1. Who was lending him the money? That’s the next shoe to drop. Remember Refco and the small “workers” bank in Germany…
Swiss FOF UBP had large Bernard Madoff stake along with many others….
From the Barrons article: Curiously, he charges no fees for his money-management services. Nor does he take a cut of the 1.5% fees marketers like Fairfield Greenwich charge investors each year. Why not? “We’re perfectly happy to just earn commissions on the trades,” he says.
This has been going on for at least 10 years.
I’m a Swift trade trader. How’bt you?
@70, ruff, just like your mother likes it trebek
spade=spade
If you read the complaints filed by the Feds, it appears the totality of their evidence is limited to Madoff’s own confession. From what I can tell, it appears absolutely no forensic accounting or interviews with any co-conspirators has happened. Essentially, the entire story right now is that the owner confessed to a crime of unconfirmed proportion.
Mark my words, this story could get even more weird in just a few days time.
– Anon4Life
I find it incredibly sad that Madoff is in this position. It is a shame at Bernie did this. Peter shouldn’t have to shoulder the blame for what his brother did. For those bashing Peter, how would you like it if someone (i.e. your brother or sister) got busted for something incredibly stupid, but you were associated with him/her in the act?
No, I don’t have any interest in Madoff, I’m just throwing the idea out there. Sad, because I respected MADF. I’m absolutely shocked at what I see on the bloomy terminal. It’s going to get very interesting the next few weeks.
50 Billion. WTF.
-mrp
@84, no idiot. he’s been stealing for years. its a ponzi scheme, $17b in current aum may not reflect what has actually been stolen.
@91, But he never reported a loosing year. $17 billion was reported as how much money investors think the have with Madoff. Cocksucker.
Yeah I don’t get the 11-25 clients bit. I can name nearly 25 individuals with money directly invested in separate Madoff accounts.
@92. Listen dumbdick, the 17 billion does not reflect the collective cash in/outflows of investor money over the years. cockgobbler.
@93. It more likely that there are 11-25 funds, not specific clients.
I have to wonder, why? The guy must have already made the big money. Was it a case of someone wanting to be a trader who just couldn’t put up the numbers? Is it that simple?
96-
I am asking myself the same question. He had a reputable shop in executing orders and being a MM. Why did he have to do what he did? I think it’s not as simple as what you’ve stated.
-mrp
@MrPink,
Just what our street need now… an old school place proven to be fraud. It makes us new guys look tarnished even worse then the last few years paint us.
The bizarre part is that he didn’t blame it on the market. A whole lot of other guys blew up… to confess to a Ponzi scheme at this moment is the most bizarre part. He could have said Wow the market kicked my ass…
Madoff direct clients were feeder funds that’s why so few. Fairfield Greenwich/Sentry had 7 bln in its feeder made up of 100′s of small investors, for instance. It was a smart way to market. The feeder fund guys would give you the line that they have done all the due dili and that they had visibility into the books. Then they would tell you that Madoff was a legend/institution. By the way, you can’t meet the fund managers or see third party audited financials. And then you would give them 10mm dollars.
Well this sucks… people are now going to hate SMA, just when I was about to be rolled out into the marketing system as an Absolute Fund Solution.
4.5 years of hard work and months of negotiations during this market while being in the black YTD pretty much smoked due to this fuck who had it made legit his way and then got greedy and went over to our area of the market and shit all over it.
Not long until Madoff, OJ, Blago and Plaxico are sharing a cell.
I have more respect for Madoff the way he confessed. He had a brilliant scam for years and when it was crumbling he didnt hide and he didnt run. He fessed up like a man and will take his lumps.
@102 is clearly a retard, and a low functioning one at that.
I think Jimmy Cayne, Ace Greenberg, Dick Fuld and Stan Oneal are all going to have a big laugh over breakfast together.
drongo…he only ‘fessed’ up when he was hit with $7bn redemptions this month. He had $100-200mn left, that’s why he cracked now..give the crook no credit
@ 102…probably the most pathetic post ever on DB…and that’s saying something
@102: Is that you, Mike Miliken?
The Feds came to his freaking apartment, when the he’ll was he going to do, run?
look at this stupid bunch of american mofos
http://www.madoff.com/stany2008/index.htm
@98, That’s what I worry about. If there was ANY doubt that hedge funds were going to be facing more regulation in 2009 …
@107, that looks like the biggest group of tools I;ve ever seen. Im sure he wasnt doing business with anyone who had a clue, meaning the hedge funds that matter to the markets anyway.
I commend his kids for callin him in, who knew kids that never had to work or show qualifications for a job had morals, bravo
@ 107 thhey tick all the boxes…stupid, american AND ugly
108 – Exactly.
With the current lack of regulation and the completely useless SEC, this really isn’t that hard to do. So long as you have people vouching for you and waving off DD/not doing it.
The wild thing is the word on the street actually was that this guy was running some sort of rigged game, or at the very least, smoothing returns.
@ 100 – I think this may actually benefit Separate Managed Accounts…why keep your $$ in LP’s that are opaque when you can have daily access to pull the plug and see thru to positions, daily P&L, etc. I see the industry moving away from LP’s to MA’s
I wonder who else in Switerland got toasted on this…must be hug
something doesn’t add up about this Madoff thing.
Fairfield Greenwich Group was hit especially hard: The hedge-fund firm had about $8 billion of its $14 billion of assets under management invested in its the Fairfield Sentry fund, which was run by Mr. Madoff
Kingate lost too
An executive in the securities industry, Harry Markopolos, contacted the SEC’s Boston office in May 1999, urging regulators to investigate Mr. Madoff. Mr. Markopolos continued to pursue his accusations over the past nine years, he said in an interview on Thursday, and according to documents he sent to the SEC that were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
“Bernie Madoff’s returns aren’t real and if they are real, then they would almost certainly have been generated by front-running customer order flow from the broker-dealer arm of Madoff Investment Securities LLC,” Mr. Markopolos wrote to the SEC in November 2005.
The SEC declined to comment on the matter
Dont forget Tremont, EIM, UBP. They are going up in flames
Thanks for opening this issue. Without regulation, it’s a lot easy to do something illegal. While doing something illegal is out of the question for most people in most circumstances, these are not most circumstances. Some people obsess over hidden treasure. Dreams of finding some vast hidden treasure out on some Caribbean Island is usually a byproduct of watching too many pirate movies and not researching what actually went on with them. (Most pirate raids were for primarily two things, food and booze.) Anyway, a lot of people are looking for where Madoff stashed his loot, and they’d get some short term loans to try and find out just where it was he hid it. It is highly unlikely that he hid a treasure chest full of cash and bond coupons, so anyone looking to get out the metal detector will just have to get used to disappointment – as they won’t likely find any of his hidden treasure. http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/03/18/buried-treasure-madoff-hide-billions/