NYC Real Estate Wipes Out Israel's Pension Funds

It's not only your investments and 401(k)s that have been syphoned off in the economic crisis. Retirees and about-to-retire workers in other countries are suffering, too. But not because of the Madoff scheme. He's off the hook this time.

Israeli pension funds saw $5.1 billion disappear as US and UK real estate investments, made by Jewish billionaires from those countries. with the retirement money, lost their value. Israel is on the verge of a strike because of it.

Bloomberg: Israeli pension funds helped diamond mogul Lev Leviev snap up Manhattan real estate, including the former New York Times building, in 2007. Now they’re sharing in his losses as property prices plunge, dragging down the value of corporate bonds that backed the deals.

Fellow billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva has the same problem after the foray by his Delek Real Estate Ltd. into British property and roadside restaurants helped force its bonds down 73 percent. Pension funds and individual investors lost about 20 billion shekels ($5.1 billion), or a quarter of what they had invested in corporate bonds, as yields fell in the four months to November.

...“These real estate tycoons imported the global financial crisis to Israel,” said Gill Beeri, managing director of Ramat Gan, Israel-based Ayalon Financial Solutions Ltd. Its Smadar fund lost 14.1 percent in the first 11 months of last year. “There’s increased concern that these companies may default.”

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange TA-25 Index fell by 41 percent in the past year as fears of bankruptcy of Israeli firms spread among investors. The government is hashing out a bailout to compensate for the retirement funds in response to strike threats by Israel's largest union over the pension losses.

We wonder whether the Israeli retirees would really get some of the bailout money promised by their government. So far ordinary folks that lost money in the U.S. because of the economic crash haven't seen a dime.

Here's Why Madoff Smiles
January 9th, 2009 | Black Star News BY Edward Manfredonia
FR Posted January 09, 2009 By Lorianne

As I have stated in previous columns, Arthur Levitt, as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, protected Bernard Madoff from investigations by the SEC because of Levitt’s friendship with Madoff. But Levitt has more ties to Madoff that have not been discussed in the press-and these ties date to Levitt’s tenure as Chairman of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) from 1978 to 1989.

Cohn Delaire and Kaufman was a large American Stock Exchange specialist firm during the 1960s and early 1970s. It had several very busy stocks including Milo Electronics. Any stock with the suffix –onics, which denoted electronics, was very busy during the 1960s. Cohn Delaire and Kaufman was not self-clearing, unlike Madoff’s firm, an important point.

The three principles of Cohn Delaire and Kaufman were Maurice “Sonny” Cohn, Alvin “Sonny” Delaire Jr., after his father passed in 1968, and Joseph Kaufman. When Levitt assumed the Chair of the AMEX in 1978 only Delaire and Kaufman were members of the American Stock Exchange. Delaire became an options market maker. Cohn had left to form his own company. Joseph Kaufman, a one time governor of the AMEX, was the principal in a small equity specialist unit-all that remained of the mighty Cohn Delaire and Kaufman. During Levitt’s tenure at the American Stock Exchange Joe Kaufman was a Senior Exchange Official and was prominently involved on several committees.

But it is Maurice “Sonny” Cohn, who became important-as a partner of Bernard Madoff. Cohn and Madoff formed Cohmad Securities, in an effort to attract wealthy investors.

In the mid 1980s Delaire left the American Stock Exchange to be a fund manager. Delaire ended up at Cohmad Securities. It was Gene Weissman, a name partner in Lieber and Weissman a day trading firm, who first informed me of Madoff and his illegal trading.

The first instance was in 1998 when his day traders attempted to purchase stock from Madoff but when their orders arrived Madoff changed the quote and informed them that the stock was unavailable. But it was the second instance, which was more telling. Weissman had established branch offices of Lieber and Weissman in Chicago and Philadelphia. It was in the Chicago office of Lieber and Weissman that one of their day traders formed an illegal pool of investors for which he would trade. This day trader had organized an investment group with the knowledge of Weissman.

This day trader did not file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission as required because he was managing the money of several investors. This day trader’s losses exceeded $1 million. In 1999 I was informed of this violation of federal securities laws by an investor in Lieber and Weissman. I promptly reported this violation of federal securities laws to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange because Lieber and Weissman was a member firm of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

It was the duty of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange to investigate and discipline Lieber and Weissman. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange informed Weissman that I had reported Lieber and Weissman for permitting a pool of investors to trade illegally. I was never contacted by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. To my knowledge the Philadelphia Stock Exchange never investigated Lieber and Weissman.

Weissman, who had served as a source of information for me, was upset. I stated that even though he had provided me with information about his competitors, I was compelled to report him for violating federal securities laws.

It was then that Weissman told me that I should report Madoff to the SEC for trading the money of investors. I told Weissman to file his own complaint against Madoff, and I would pass along the information to a reporter at BusinessWeek. Weissman refused. Weissman stated that Levitt would merely order the SEC to inform Madoff of Weissman’s complaint.

Weissman stated that Levitt always protected his friends--just as Levitt had done in the PNF fiasco, which was a mafia run entity, and the subject of a front page Wall Street Journal article in July 1992. In 1993 sources told me that Levitt had the SEC cover up the involvement of members of the Board of the American Stock Exchange, Louis Miceli and Robert VanCaneghan, in the Mafia backed stock fraud, which was introduced at the American Stock Exchange.

Government sources told me that Levitt also had the SEC cover up the involvement of Steven Lister, Senior Vice President of Compliance at the American Stock Exchange, in the Mafia-backed stock fraud, PNF. (Levitt had been nominated by Bill Clinton as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission largely because Arthur Levitt had raised in excess of $4 million for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign.)

When I pressed Weissman for more information on Madoff’s illegal trading, Weissman refused because he was afraid that his firm would suffer reprisals if it were known that he had provided me with information concerning violations of federal securities laws.

It is readily apparent that Levitt’s ties to the American Stock Exchange as well as his friendship with Bernie Madoff influenced Levitt to cover up Madoff’s violations of federal securities laws. Levitt’s refusal to utilize the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate and sanction his friends and other powerful Wall Street figures, has led this country into a financial crisis. This dereliction of duty will cost America a trillion dollars.

MAP OF MADOFF'S FAMILY-SOCIAL LABYRINTH USED
TO RAKE IN BILLIONS---INTERACTIVE AT WEB SITE

WEB SITE http://news.muckety.com/2008/12/28/madoff-used-social-family-networks-to-rake-in-billions/9031

That doe-eyed, winsome smirk hides an unspeakable evil.

"I'm Bernie. Trust me."

"Foundations and charities" are handy vehicles for those running Ponzi schemes....handy to illegally convert and launder investments out of sight of the taxman. Investigators might look there as one way to help compensate investors.

The huge tax-exempt dimension to Madoff's fraud is very fishy. Madoff was connected to numerous so-called tax-exempt " charities, and family foundations:" The Picower Foundation, The Chais Family Foundation, Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, Steven Spielberg's tax-exempt Wunderkind Foundation, tax-exempt Yeshiva University, the Kehilath Jeshurun synagogue, the Maimonides, Ramaz and SAR day schools---and more---all invested with Madoff. The landscape is littered with these "foundations and charities." Investigators need to determine why Brooklyn, NY residents registered some 800 tax-exempts in Lakewood-----a small flea-bitten central New Jersey town.

FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY Democrat donor a fugitive from justice; had shady dealings with Olmert

ISRAEL SCANDAL'S LI LINK; REVEALED: BIZMAN WHO MIGHT TOPPLE OLMERT
May 6, 2008, NY POST, By KATE SHEEHY
Millionaire financier Morris Talansky - who runs an investment firm out of his tony home in Woodmere, LI, New York - allegedly passed money to PM Olmert while the politician was mayor of Jerusalem in the '90s, sources said. In a highly unusual move, Israeli authorities have barred the country's media from publishing Talansky's name - revealed now in The Post - saying it could hamper their investigation. Israeli media has referred only to the involvement of an "American businessman."

Talansky - a philanthropist and political contributor to everyone from Rudy Giuliani to Bill Clinton - is in Jerusalem, where he has an apartment.......

The 75-year-old was earlier questioned about the alleged scheme almost immediately after arriving in the country for Passover, and he implicated Olmert, sources have said.

It was unclear what the alleged payments to Olmert were for, but sources said they involved hefty amounts of cash. Talansky repeatedly appears - sometimes under the nickname "The Laundry Man" - in the logs of financial dealings kept by Olmert's longtime aide, Shula Zakan, a source said. Olmert was grilled by investigators Friday. He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. The allegations are only the latest in a string of woes for Olmert, who has battled past charges of government corruption and questionable personal business practices. Talansky lists himself as CEO of the Global Resources Group, a self-described financial-investment firm.

SOURCE http://www.nypost.com/seven/05062008/news/regionalnews/israel_scandals_li_link_109573.htm

====================================

Olmert and Talansky are sole officers controlling The New Jerusalem Foundation. US tax reports for the New Jerusalem Foundation in 2000 show it was registered to a post office box in Manchester, NH, and reportedly then-had a $390,000 budget.

Foundation Treasurer Talansky once operated the so-called charity out of two of his New York residences for a number of years. Talansky is a fugitive----and has been in Jerusalem since April 2008.....

FOR YOUR REFERENCE
The New Jerusalem Foundation
Morris Talansky, Treasurer
Ehud Olmert, President
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1645
New York, NY 10170
Phone: 212-697-4188

Israeli offices
Zvi Raviv Director General 1999-2007
The New Jerusalem Foundation
4 Koresh St. PO Box 775
Jerusalem 91007
Tel: 972-2-6232227
Fax: 972-2-6232390
Email: thenjf@jerusalem.muni.il
Website: www.thenjf.org

I LAVI$HED OLMERT OUT OF 'LOVE'; TEARY LI GUY SAYS HE GAVE 150G - & GOT ZIP
By ANDY SOLTIS, NY POST, May 28, 2008

CRIME MINISTER Bribes, spy satellite, referrals billionare businessmen, loans for lavish lifestyle

>
UNHAPPY TASK: Morris Talansky (right) is wired with a mike before his testimony in Jerusalem.

A tearful Long Island businessman testified that he heaped cash-filled envelopes on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for four-star hotels, first-class flights, expensive cigars and a luxury family vacation. Morris Talansky said he passed at least $150,000 to Olmert over 15 years because he thought Olmert was the future of Israeli politics. "I really loved that man," Talansky, 75, told a Jerusalem court. He said he gave Olmert campaign donations he raised in New York and from his own funds, as well as "loans" for luxuries that were never repaid.

They included a vacation in Italy for the Olmert family, costing up to $30,000, and $4,700 for a three-day stay at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington. Talansky paid the hotel bill after Olmert called him "to say his own credit card was maxed out." The witness said there are no records of how some of the money was spent. "I only know that he loved expensive cigars. I know he loved pens, watches. I found it strange," Talansky told the court with a shrug.

He said he trusted Olmert, "a very close friend," and continued to supply him with campaign cash even after Olmert "shocked" him by asking for $72,500 in 2005. But Olmert never had any contact with him after becoming prime minister in 2006 - and after Talansky asked him to pay back the loans, he said. Talansky's deposition will be the key to a possible indictment of Olmert, who has vowed to step down if formally charged. Olmert's lawyer said Talansky's testimony would be shown to be "twisted" when the witness is cross-examined on July 17.

The businessman was tearful as he spoke of his need to get back to Woodmere, LI, before then to take care of his ailing wife. Yesterday, he told the court that he became entranced by Olmert when they first met in 1991, and he agreed when Olmert asked him to raise money for his campaigns for mayor of Jerusalem and for various party posts.

Olmert told him to send cash, not checks, because of fund-raising rules. "Cash disturbed me," Talansky said. "I couldn't understand it, and I accepted the answer simply because I saw something bigger, hopefully, out there."

He insisted he never sought favors in return. But Olmert offered to put him in touch with Jewish billionaires to help his businesses. Yet when Talansky called one of the men, casino king Sheldon Adelson, about installing Talansky's minibars in his hotels, Adelson slammed down the phone, he said.

During his long day on the witness stand, Talansky repeatedly praised Olmert, whom he portrayed as a brilliant defender of Israel. "That's why I overlooked, frankly and honestly, a lot of things," he said.

But he gradually became disillusioned. He said on one occasion, when Olmert stayed at the Regency Hotel in New York, he asked for a $15,000 loan and refused to accept Talansky's check. Talansky said he walked four blocks to a bank to withdraw the money, then gave it to Olmert - with a request to be quickly repaid. "Famous last words," he said wistfully. With Post Wire Services

SOURCE http://www.nypost.com/seven/05282008/news/regionalnews/i_lavihed_olmert_out_of_love_112845.htmhttp://www.nypost.com/seven/05282008/news/regionalnews/i_lavihed_olmert_out_of_love_112845.htm

================================================

FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY

Various addresses and organizations used by Talansky to donate to US politicians including Clinton and Giuliani:

Morris Talansky, Executive Director for Jerusalem-based Share Zedek Medical Center, 2373 Broadway, Apt Ph3, NY 10024

Morris Talansky, 49 W 45th St NY 10036, Share Zedek and Niche Company

Morris Talansky, 1220 Sage Street, Far Rockaway, BY 11691

Morris Talansky, 20 Longfellow Road, Great Neck, NY 11023

Morris Talansky (residence), 103 Wood Lane South, Woodsburgh, NY 11598

Morris Talansky, CEO, Global Resources Group (financial firm), 103 Wood Lane South, Woodsburgh, NY 11598

SOURCE http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?last=Talansky&first=Morris

FOR REFERENCE Morris Talansky, Woodsburgh, NY, is best known as the American-based fund-raiser for the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center located in Jerusalem. The American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center took in $20 million in 2002, according to available tax returns. Paul Glasser, the national executive director for Shaare Zedek Medical Center’s American organization, lied to US officials when he said Mr. Talansky had not worked for the organization since 1997.

2004 tax return shows that Morris Talansky earned $90,000 from the organization that year, for his work in pulling in more than $14 million from outside sources.

Tax records also show that Morris Talansky served as treasurer for the American branch of the tax-exempt New Jerusalem Foundation, a charity that listed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as president. The New Jerusalem Foundation’s American branch received a US tax exemption in 1999, when Olmert was in his sixth year as mayor of Jerusalem. According to recent tax returns of the American branch of the New Jerusalem Foundation, it raised $376,000 in 2000 and $76, 000 in 2005.

FOR YOUR REFERENCE
The New Jerusalem Foundation
Morris Talansky, Treasurer
Ehud Olmert, President
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1645
New York, NY 10170
Phone: 212-697-4188

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