Gadfly Prison Inmate Jonathan Lee Riches Enters Madoff Fray; Files Motion To Intervene In Bankruptcy Case

Veteran court watchers might have wagered it was only a matter of time before Jonathan Lee Riches filed a motion in the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy case.

Had you placed a friendly wager, you’d be a winner. Riches’  brief  was recorded yesterday. He called it an “Amicus Curaie” motion to gain standing with the Court.

Riches, also known as #40948018, is a prisoner at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Williamsburg, in Salters, S.C. His brief was filed longhand — on tablet paper. You can see it on the Madoff Trustee site, operated by Irving Picard, the court appointed trustee.

Doing a stint for wire fraud, Riches has, among other things, sued the Williamsburg prison telephone number. He also has sued Plato and  Nostradamus, among more than 1,000 others.

We’re publishing this post for a couple of reasons. The first is that the motion is laugh-out-loud funny. Riches, for example, claims he met Madoff on eharmony.com in 2001. A romantic relationship ensued, and Madoff picked Riches’ brain to learn how to become a better criminal.

Riches also claims Madoff took money from Williamsburg inmates after offering them 16.8 percent interest, and then invested the money in a Swiss Ponzi scheme.

So, have a laugh during these troubled times.

Our second reason for publishing this post is a serious one. Readers following the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme litigation know that a strange motion also was filed in that case. Curtis Richmond, a man linked to a sham Utah “Indian” tribe purportedly founded in an Arby’s restaurant, filed a motion to have the case dismissed.

He was denied leave to file, and has a history of filing frivolous litigation, as does Riches.

Here we have two very serious cases — Madoff and ASD/Andy Bowdoin — and the judges and true parties to the cases have to accommodate nonsense in a search for the truth. It’s still nonsense, even if it does make you laugh.

Riches’ brief was funny, to be sure. And there also is humor to be found in a brief filed by a member of a sham “Indian” tribe founded in Arby’s.

Devoting airtime or column inches to things of this nature often is a tough call. On one hand, neither court brief cited above serves the interests of justice. On the other, however, it’s hard to ignore the human-interest elements of either brief. Madoff on eharmony? Arby’s Indians?

So, we’ll keep this post brief and acknowledge both the humor and the very serious business at hand.