Posted on 12/21/2008 1:33:33 PM PST by Enchante
To Our Friends:
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 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 Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
NEVER put ALL your eggs on ONE basket.
For sure..... and one thing I don’t get is how all these foundations could put their “eggs” with an investment house that was so allergic to any disclosure or any real auditing of its books. I would think that rational foundation boards OUGHT to be more concerned than anyone about openness, transparency, accountability, etc.
Obviously I am still terribly naive, since much of the “non-profit” world seems to be a cesspool of insider relationships, back-scratching and collusion among over-lapping boards, etc.
Not saying that applies to the Elie Wiesel Foundation, there I have no idea, but I am not impressed by what has been coming out about various foundations now and in recent years.
Would like to see how the donations were spent. Why there is such a huge balance and if the foundation was merely a tax avoidance vehicle.
Weisel has constitently avoided discussing the holocausts carried out by the communists in Russia,China,and SE Asia.Two of the three easily exceeded 6 million.He still says nothing compares to the campaign to exterminate the Jews.It really doen’t matter if you’re exterminated by your own as in Cambodia-you’re just as dead.Weisel also supports gun bans-for all his book writing he didn’t learn much.
How much of the 15 Million was the result of shrewd investment in Bernard Madoff Investment Securities?
Agreed.
It seems that most people think short-term; the good they wish to do NOW as opposed to long-term thinking about “how we can protect our assets to continue our mission for the future”.
I’m afraid short-sightedness is rampant these days, regardless of the organization involved. See the “Big 3” automakers.
A quick Google search shows he donates 100% to Democrats.
He might regret that when Obama puts him into another concentration camp.
$15.2 million is not any “huge balance” among foundations — the normal procedure is to have an “endowment” which is supposed to be maintained or increased in perpetuity, and then to spend a minimum of 4-5% (the exact minimum is mandated by federal law) of “income” for annual programs and donations, etc.
So the “balance” as I understand it would be the endowment, which is supposed to be maintained or even increased, forever.
Of course, one thing that conservatives discover is that even if they should set up a foundation with “conservative” intentions, over time there is a continual pressure from the left, increasingly “progressive” staff members who turn a Ford or Rockefeller foundation board into an outlet for left-wing activism, etc. So any conservative with a lot of money should set it up such that the foundation gives all the money away in a specific period of time, with strictly limited purposes..... otherwise the left will be almost certain to take over in a generation or two.
Why do charities have this kind of money to invest in the first place? Why aren’t they using it for the intended purposes?
I guess I was only thinking of how he is more willing to defend Israel than most..... I believe he has said it is his policy never to criticize Israel from abroad, since he recognizes that any such remarks will be used by Islamo-fascists, leftist anti-semites, and everyone who is working to harm or destroy Israel.
Maybe he’s more of a Lieberman type of Democrat, I don’t really know......
Madoff should be in jail.
see #9
The whole idea has been for foundations to be self-perpetuating, making their program grants and donations from investment income. As with college/university endowments, the goal has been to have a permanent fund that creates an annual income that can be used for current programs, but the endowment fund should always be maintained or increased. At least that was the idea before Bernie Madoff came along to “vanish” certain endowment funds completely.
Doesn’t speak well for any of the boards involved that handed over ALL of the endowment funds under their control to one guy, and a guy who provided no transparency or real info at all about what he was doing with the funds. I wonder if some of these groups of trustees and board members will be sued for negligence or whatever?
Very strange that the “Elie Wiesel Foundation” does not appear on the Charity Navigator, America’s premier independent charity evaluator.
http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/CM_Images/000/30/2007%20Form%20990.pdf
wow, and that form shows “gross receipts” for 2007 in the range of $85 million??
So do they pay out in grants and donations almost all of their income? Why else would annual receipts be so far above the $15.2 million which they claim was virtually all of their investments in late 2008?
Something may be very fishy with this foundation...... unless they SOP was not to build/retain endowment, but simply to maximize current program expenditures and activities.
This Made-off scandal would be a good time to reevaluate the whole non-profit genre. IMO there are a lot of political $ being spread around by the non-profit endowments, especially to immoral causes. The IRS, Justice and Treasury should investigate. This is the perfect opportunity.
Primary exempt purpose - “increase world awareness of inhumanity”
Dig, the connections between Planned Abortions and lib foundations is real and pervasive.
But elect Democrats and abortion supporters. Ugh, vomit.
Madoff should not be in jail.
On a comparative scale of criminal harm, Madoff’s big Ego scheme and scam has probably shortened the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people, thrown many into ill health, and pulled the economic rugs out from under many more.For all I know some have already died from the stress of losing all they had, all they entrusted him with.
Those who invested with him were not necessarily as
“greedy” as he was-—from what I gather his steady 10%-15% returns were what got them and kept them investing. But of course the numbers on all his statements were fictitious. He knew what he was doing, and his massive scam reached a point of no return early on so he could continue to both finance his lavish lifestyle and his
reputation as a gray emiminence among investment managers.
He played “hard to get”, and only grudgingly agreed to take on new investors once he was sure they passed the point where they believed they needed him more than he needed them. It’s the ‘exclusive club/secret society’ ethos.
So what I am saying is that many people have probably gotten the electric chair or the gas chamber for lesser crimes, especially the small percentage of innocent ones.
Madoff could be executed and it wouldn’t bother me one bit.
For once, “making an example” of an evil-doer would be worth it, and on-target.
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