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Tag: Elie Wiesel

  • Madoff Displayed Charms Of A Practiced Huckster

    Bernard Madoff was charged with securities fraud Dec. 11. The story about the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme hasn’t been out of the news since then — not even for a few hours.

    Over the weekend we reported that the assets of the Elie Wiesel Foundation had been wiped out in the alleged Madoff fraud. Not even Nobel Prize winners are immune from the charms of a practiced huckster.

    Madoff insisted his trading formula was “proprietary.” Investors say he told them to keep their relationship “secret,” that nobody needed to know he was handing their money — and yet people couldn’t keep the secret, which is how Madoff got more clients. Some charities already have closed, throwing employees out of work, canceling important research and projects and making the world a little darker place.

    Lawsuits are flying left and right: New York University, for example, sued Ezra Merkin, accusing him of entrusting investment money to Madoff while not performing due diligence.  Merkin is a funds manager and also the chairman of GMAC, the lending arm of General Motors Corp.

    Ponzi: There’s not another five-letter word quite like it. High net-worth individuals in Palm Beach are selling real estate and yachts to get by. Members of the Jewish faith have been particularly hard-hit. This case is many things. One of them is affinity fraud, something that is proliferating online.

    Madoff is infamous now, his Hollywood story of rising from humble life guard to corporate baron in tatters. Someone apparently stole a $10,000 statue depicting a life guard from Madoff’s Florida home. Madoff odds and ends are beginning to appear on eBay.

    The Bernard Madoff case is a cautionary tale. At it’s base, however, it’s a simple tale of moving shells and playing word games to hide forbidden math. Forbidden math doesn’t sell because it takes away the dream.

  • Elie Wiesel Foundation Wiped Out In Madoff ‘Ponzi’

    Elie Wiesel
    Elie Wiesel

    In a stunning announcement, the Elie Wiesel Foundation For Humanity said it lost “substantially all” of its assets in the alleged Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.

    It has been known for two weeks that significant foundation money was under Madoff’s management. But the foundation now says it had entrusted $15.2 million to Madoff, in essence the entirety of its assets.

    “We are deeply saddened and distressed that we, along with many others, have been the victims of what may be one of the largest investment frauds in history. We are writing to inform you that the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity had $15.2 million under management with Bernard Madoff Investment Securities. This represented substantially all of the Foundation’s assets,” the foundation said in a statement.

    “The values we stand for are more needed than ever. We want to assure you that the Foundation remains committed to carrying on the lifelong work of our founder, Elie Wiesel. We shall not be deterred from our mission to combat indifference, intolerance, and injustice around the world.

    “At this difficult time, the Foundation wishes to express its profound gratitude for all your support,” the foundation said.

    Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor, a prominenet writer and the recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Peace. He and his wife, Marion, launched the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity after Elie received the Nobel Prize.

  • Madoff Victims Include Foundations, Business And Entertainment Icons, Mom And Pop

    The foundation of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and a charity operated by Hollywood icon Steven Spielberg were among the potential victims of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

    Madoff, 70, was arrested last week. He is charged with defrauding investors and acknowledged he’d been running a giant investment Ponzi scheme for years. Losses could top $50 billion, authorities said.

    Other potential victims are a charity run by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D.-N.J.), publishing and real-estate tycoon Mort Zuckerman, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, a host of large companies based in Europe, Yeshiva University and a number of Jewish charities, some of which have suspended operations.

    Here is a list of possible Madoff victims from Bloomberg News.

    Jewish charities have been particularly hard-hit. Organizations funded by the charities are now endangered, demonstrating a domino effect that could affect charitable budgets coast to coast in the United States.

    “The programs of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation and the Robert I. Lappin 1992 Supporting Foundation are discontinued, effectively immediately,” the Massachusetts based foundation said on its website. “This includes Youth to Israel and Teachers to Israel.

    “The money used to fund the programs of both Foundations was invested with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and all the assets have been frozen by the federal courts. Mr. Madoff was arrested Thursday morning by the FBI and charged with criminal securities fraud by federal prosecutors. The money needed to fund the programs of the Lappin Foundations is gone.

    “The Foundation staff has been terminated today.

    “It is with a heavy heart that I make this announcement,” said Robert I. Lappin, Foundation trustee. “The Foundations’ programs have touched thousands of lives over many years in our efforts to help keep our children Jewish.”

    One of the big questions, of course, is how fraud of this alleged magnitude could go undetected for years. The SEC is being criticized for lack of oversight and for not peeling back enough layers of the onion in previous inquiries about Madoff’s business practices.

    Federal investigators pored over Madoff’s records in New York over the weekend. Guards were positioned outside his offices, the Wall Street Journal reported.

    Investors have been scrambing to hire attorneys. A number of firms that specialize in securities lawsuits have been issuing News Releases and advertising their plans to gather information and sue.

    Some pension funds also have been linked to Madoff’s business, meaning retirees’ income is at risk.