Internet hustlers go after Madoff victims (Nigerians' new sucker targets)

NY POST ^ | 3/10/10 | KAJA WHITEHOUSE and BRUCE GOLDING

[Liz]

The Securities Investor Protection Corp web site has an apparent imposter, i-sipc.com soliciting Madoff victims. A Nigerian scam sought to steal their personal info claiming they had $1.3 million in Madoff money stashed in Malaysia. Burned investors were urged to mail in their "most recent brokerage account statement." The shady group claimed to be based in Geneva, with ties to the UN and IMF but a search of the domain name showed Victor Oladipo, Nigeria, created the site last August.

[pnh102]

Fools and their money... though it is really hard for me to feel sorry for any of Madoff’s victims.

[BallyBill]

Of course. Just like donating to charities, they pass your name and number on as a "mark" to others.

I AM NOT comparing the work of charities to Madoff and his ilk, just the business model.

[citizen]

Ya gotta love those Nigerians. No matter how many scams get outed, they just keep coming back w/ more!

[Hoodat]

Agreed. The Madoff ‘victims’ assumed that Madoff was operating off of inside information. It is their greed that makes them susceptible to being scammed.

[null and void]

Who was the FReeper who used to punk the scammers?

He’d lead them on, and on, and on.

He’d demand that they send him hilarious photos to prove that they were ‘real’ people.

With a foot in a bucket, a fish on their head and an ‘I am the Walrus’ sign in their laps...

[A_Tradition_Continues]

It seems that any internet scam is labeled a “Nigerian Scam”. Truth be known most of the scams of this type originate in Russia. Nigeria does have some rather heavy penalities for their scammers. Most that are convicted are never heard from again.

[SJSAMPLE]

True, but it was bad enough that the US Secret Service set up offices in Nigeria about five years ago.

[Liz]

......it is really hard to feel sorry for any of Madoff’s victims........

You have to take into consideration that Madoff was running several simultaneous scams-----(1) a Ponzi fraud; (2) laundering tax-free money, (3) IRS fraud facilitation; (4) a protection racket (shielding certain investors from scrutiny); (5) Dem campaign fraud.

The court appointed trustee looking into Madoff's assets unearthed a labyrinth of interrelated international funds, institutions and entities of almost unparalleled complexity and breadth...... and assets and businesses in 11 places overseas.

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

No question, tax evasion and money laundering was the name of the game for the wealthiest Madoffians-----businessmen who were funneling income to Madoff to avoid US taxes, who were posing as "philanthropists."

FOR EXAMPLE The tax-exempt Picower Foundation took out an astounding 950% profit......depositing $1.6 billion with Madoff, and withdrawing more than $6.7 billion, for a net profit of $5.1 billion. Picower had arranged the rate of return beforehand.

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

Jeffry Picower was a seldom-seen philanthropist, investor and confidant of Madoff. Now a lawyer representing 100 Madoff victims suggests it was no accident that Picower was one of the few Madoff customers who made a substantial profit.

While coverage of Picower has been scant, on various occasions, The St. Petersburg Times, Forbes, and, most recently, Pro Publica, have raised the question of whether Picower used his tax-exempt "charities" to mine information—especially about the medical developments-----that he then used in chasing deals. For example, Picower was the biggest shareholder in Alaris Medical Systems and collected more than $1 billion when it was bought by Cardinal Health in 2004. (snip) http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-25/did-bernie-madoff-get-a-billion-dollar-kickback/full/

Authorities should go after The Florida-based Picower Foundation, worth $1 billion AND a major backer of the abortion industry.

Barbara and Jeffrey Picower
The Picower Foundation
1410 South Ocean Blvd
Palm Beach, Fla 33480
Tele 561-835-1332
Geographic Focus: Florida; New York;
SOURCE http://www.tgci.com/funding/fdnresultnew.asp?thisID=19499

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REFERENCE The number of tax-exempt "foundations and charities" attached to Madoff's scam is VERY fishy. NOTE: the IRS has targeted tax-exempt "foundations and charities" as the locus classicus for money laundering and tax evasion. The BIGGEST fraud is one charity writing checks to another charity---the way these "altruistic philanthropists" siphon off funds for themselves--all tax-free.

NOTE: After the scandal broke, Picower was found dead, floating in his swimming pool.

[ParityErr]

Here's a website that is dedicated to scamming the scammers. Very funny stuff there.

[Former MSM Viewer]

yeah, he had them pose in his soccer teams uniforms...told them they werent neat enough-to buy new ones for the photo...

[Pessimist]

Go to, "www.419eater.com" . They make quite a sport out of it

[Liz]

......the Secret Service set up offices in Nigeria about five years ago........

NBC’s Chris Hansen chased the Nigerian scammers from emails.

The con artists were so greedy they actually showed up in hotels in London.

Reports with hidden cameras showed Nigerians in internet cafes doing the scam.

[SJSAMPLE]

I saw that.
It’s a fairly “professional” organization.

[Leisler]

Onetime Wall Street legend Bernie Madoff pulled off the biggest Ponzi scheme in history — until he didn’t. And $65 billion — many people’s life savings — went up in smoke.

Harry Markopolos saw it coming, for years, and could not get anyone to stop it. He and a band of investment insiders begged the SEC to shut Madoff down, to open his books and really see.

They got nowhere. Instead, Harry Markopolos feared for his own life — that big-money Madoff investors would come after him for spoiling the game.

This hour, On Point: The man who yelled bloody murder about Bernie Madoff.

http://www.wbur.org/2010/02/26/markopolos-revisited

[lwd]

The US should just disconnect the whole country of Niger from the internet. They’ve abused their privileges (Yes, I know the euros think internet access is a “right”).

[lwd]

lowbridge

[Liz]

Madoff pulled off the biggest Ponzi scheme in history $65 billion — many people’s life savings — went up in smoke…

Hold on a sec......some, not all investors money went up in smoke.

The court appointed trustee looking into Madoff's assets unearthed a labyrinth of interrelated international funds, institutions and entities of almost unparalleled complexity and breadth...... and assets and businesses in 11 places overseas.

Americans have not yet learned the full extent of official corruption, thievery, schemes and scams involving $TRILLIONS of tax dollars, aided and abetted by the elected dupes on Capitol Hill.

[Liz]

No question, tax evasion and money laundering was the name of the game for the wealthiest Madoffians-----people who were funneling income to Madoff to avoid US taxes,some of whom were posing as "philanthropists."

CASE IN POINT Madoff's close pal, J Ezra Merkin, a well-connected "philanthropist"---- ran several offshore hedge funds and was feeding money to Madoff.

BAILOUT SWILLERS Stephen A. Fineberg's private equity firm---Cerberus Capital Management LP--- also owns Chrysler Motors. The US Treasury bought a $5 billion stake in GMAC (GM financing arm), and lent $1 billion to GM. This latest loan is IN ADDITION to the $13.4 billion the US Treasury lent earlier to Merkin's GMAC, and Fineberg's Chrysler.

SWILLING TIMELINE In 2006, GM sold 51% of Merkin's GMAC to Feinberg's private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP (which also owns Chrysler).

HOGGING AT THE PUBLIC TROUGH In May 2004, Feinberg's "private investment group," Cerberus Capital Management, LP became majority owner of IAP Worldwide Services, Inc, one of the US Army’s largest contractors in Iraq. In Afghanistan, Feinberg's IAP runs a drug/addiction center" in Kunduz---Kunduz is the largest opium supplier in the world. BUSY LITTLE BEAVER IAP also provides infrastructure support for the British Ministry of Defence in Kandahar....apart from supporting the US Army in Basra.

BAILED OUT AND STILL SWILLING Stephen A. Feinberg's IAP also serves a broad array of federal clients including the US DOD, NASA, the US Geological Survey, the US Agency for International Development, the IRS, and a variety of other federal agencies.

BACKSTORY GMAC's Merkin and Chrysler's Feinberg paid the Israeli govt $500M to buy Bank Leumi. An “inside” deal not just anybody could get. Bank Leumi looms large in the missing billion dollar taxpayer bailouts since Israel is the only place in the world where an individual can fly-in, got o a bank with a suitcase full of cash, and nobody asks where they got it, or whether taxes were paid on it.

Bank Leumi looms large in the missing Madoff billions (and the missing billion dollar bailouts). Israel is the only place in the world where an individual certified as being of Jewish heritage, can fly-in, got to a bank with a suitcase full of cash, and nobody asks where they got it, or whether taxes were paid on it.

Hadassah is another charity that should undergo scrutiny---Hadassah withdrew MORE money from Madoff than it originally put in------it "says" it funds health care initiatives, Zionist education and the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem. Hadassah now says it plans to finish construction of a new medical tower in Jerusalem and that it has added 8,000 new members in recent months (man, that was one great outreach (/snic). The American Jewish Congress "says" it lost $21 million in the fraud.

Israel did not want to have the global reputation as a money laundering haven---and tried and tried to get the law changed........but its Orthodox religious political parties raised a huge ruckus against the changes.

[CharlieOK1]

OMG, I had some good laughs over that guys website! I had forgotten about that!