Very interesting post. Point me to links if you have them easily available or tell me more if you are doing your own research!
WRT MADOFF'S MULTIPLE SCAMS: Madoff Trustees court filing #524, Oct 16, 2009
Madoff Securities had 244 special non-split strike accounts comprised of his Palm beach pals----Picower, Norman Levy, Carl Shapiro, family and other insiders. Some people did not know they were invested w/ Madoff b/c fund feeders who were entrusted with OPM and placed it w/ Madoff w/out investors' knowledge or consent. Feeders Merkin, Avellino, Bienes, Chais, Jaffe, and Cohen pocketed large fees from Madoff for the placement.
The agreed-upon returns exceeded 100%---meaning Madoff insiders knowingly took out more than they put in. Picower's tax-exempt Foundation took out an astounding 900%---but his widow has agreed to give some of it back to avoid prosecution.
The insider accounts steadily drained billions while Madoff suckered the rubes who continued to invest in good faith and got 10-12% return. Unknowing investors---suckered by feeder funds----were hit with additional fees. Some of this money is clawback-able b/c the thieves put in cash in the late stages to keep the fraud going for themselves.
Feds and DOJ pursuing criminal charges, and bankruptcy trustee pursuing "fraudulent conveyance" lawsuits (law says one cannot profit from a fraud), should stay alert----this is where the money is.
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THE BIGGEST FEEDER OF THEM ALL WHO GOT BILLIONS IN FEDERAL BAILOUTS Madoff depended on feeder funds to funnel investor deposits directly to him. In 2000, J. Ezra Merkin---a prominent wealthy New Yorker who attended sunagoguie with Madoff---told his Gabriel and Ariel fund investors that he was investing in distressed assets and bankruptcies......... when he actually transferred more than one third of each of those funds' money to Madoff.
Merkin's Ascot Partners formed in 1992, held $1.7 billion from 300 investors, and earned him $25.5 million per year by the end of December, 2008. He advised investors that only 15% of the fund was invested with Madoff. "Substantially all" of its assets went to Madoff, although he represented the contributions as only a 15% investment.
Merkin became embroiled in controversy when Ascot Partners investors were told of the connection in a letter faxed to them on December 11. Many of them were not aware or told of the connection to Madoff, and Merkin denied any connection to Madoff when asked by an investor. Merkin lied to a client that his investment was with Morgan Stanley, and protected.
On April 6, 2009, civil fraud charges were filed against J. Ezra Merkin alleging he "betrayed hundreds of investors" by moving $2.4 billion of clients' money to Bernard Madoff without their knowledge.
The complaint states, he lied about putting the money with Madoff, failed to disclose conflicts of interest, and collected over $470 million in fees for his three hedge funds, Ascot Partners LP with Ascot Fund Ltd., Gabriel Capital Corp. and Ariel Fund Ltd.
He promised he would actively manage the money, but instead, he misguided investors about his Madoff investments in quarterly reports, in investor presentations, and in conversations with investors. "Merkin held himself out to investors as an investing guru...In reality, Merkin was but a master marketer."
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BACKSTORY GMAC chair J Ezra Merkin and Chrysler's Stephen A. Feinberg (who also owns private equity firm---Cerberus Capital Management LP). The two partnered to buy Bank Leumi from the Israeli government for $500M.
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, and lent $1 billion to GM. This latest loan is IN ADDITION to the $13.4 billion the US Treasury lent earlier to J Ezra Merkin's GM, 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 (Cerebrus is the three-headed dog that guards Hades), 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.
TIMELINE On October 19, 2006, John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury under George H.W. Bush, was named head of Cerebrus.
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.
FEDERAL RESERVE INFO A FACTOR? Madoff's connections to J Ezra Merkin and Stephen Fineberg's company---Cerebrus---could also mean the connivers were stealing Federal Reserve insider info. Ex-Treasury Sect John Snow headed Cerebrus. Knowing Federal Reserves moves in advance would make zillions for the thieves...........on top of the billions they were swilling elsewhere. These termites were running rampant allover the US government---Merkin and Feinberg's auto companies received billions in govt bailouts.