madoff

Madoff's Luxury Car Fleet Being Returned to Dealers

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Wealth

When Bernie Madoff's house of cards came crashing down, it turns out there was a garage full of luxury cars trapped underneath. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, whose namesake chief stands accused of perpetrating a $50 billion fraud, had a small fleet of luxury automobiles under lease, which the courts are now being asked to cancel.

Included in the fleet are a Cadillac DTS sedan, a Range Rover sport-ute, an unspecified Lexus, a Mercedes GLS450 sport-ute (pictured above) and a pair of top-of-the-line Mercedes S550 sedans. With Madoff not going anywhere under house arrest, the firm's employees dismissed and a court-appointed administrator trying to untangle the mess, the leased vehicles are all being returned to their dealerships, where mechanics may very well find the cars to be nothing but empty shells with bits and pieces borrowed from each other and leaving a long trail of debt behind them.

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Tags: bernard madoff, BernardMadoff, bernie madoff, BernieMadoff, madoff, madoff car, madoff car fleet, madoff securities, MadoffCar, MadoffCarFleet, MadoffSecurities

Bernie Madoff, Sharp-Dressed Man

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

As we've mentioned before, the ritzy town of Palm Beach, Florida is reeling from the fallout regarding Bernard Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Nowhere is hardest hit perhaps than Worth Avenue, Palm Beach's shopping area which is lined with ultra-pricey boutiques. The Dior boutique recently closed but another boutique dearer to Madoff's heart is Trillion. Robert Frank of the Wall Street Journal reports that Madoff enjoyed his pricey duds and shopped at Trillion on Worth Avenue. Madoff last shopped at the store two weeks before his arrest and bought some clothes to be picked up at a later date. He never returned to the store to pick up the goods because of his arrest and so the items, which were reported to be in the thousands of dollars range, were shipped to him. It bears noting that at Trillion, which specializes in Kiton cashmere suits, you could spend that on just a couple of items.

Madoff, remains free on a $10 million bond after a judge ruled that he can continue to live under house arrest in his Manhattan home despite recently sending jewelry off to relatives in violation of an assets freeze. Judge Ellis has asked Madoff to compile an inventory of all items in his home and barred his from any more property transfers. We assume that means no fancy Kiton castoffs so Bernie Madoff may just be the world's best dressed shut-in.

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Tags: bernard madoff, BernardMadoff, bernie madoff, BernieMadoff, madoff, palm beach, PalmBeach, trillion

Shoud Madoff Go To Jail For Sending Off The Family Jewels?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Bernard Madoff is in trouble again. The epic swindler, whose $50 billion Ponzi scheme has devastated fortunes, wiped out philanthropic organizations and caused financial havoc all along the East Coast, sent five pieces of jewelry worth $1 million to his relatives. Prosecutors say that Madoff, who is free on bail, should go to jail because this is a violation of an asset freeze. As Bloomberg reports the government now has three of the items including watches and cuff links. Ira Sorkn, Madoff's defense lawyer, says the items were heirlooms "innocently sent to Madoff's relatives." Sorkin reports he asked his client to retrieve them and alerted the government. Some of the items belong to Madoff and some to his wife, Ruth, who has not been charged but has agreed not to dispose of her assets. Judge Ellis declined to immediately rule on the government request, asking for legal briefs from both sides by January 7. Madoff remains under 24-hour house arrest in his $7 million New York City apartment.

For a full list of just what Madoff has left, the Palm Beach home, the East Hamptons vacation house, the wooden fishing boat, the watches and more, check out this list from the Washington Post.

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Tags: bernard madoff, BernardMadoff, bernie madoff, BernieMadoff, madoff

Foundations Invested with Madoff Gave Away $73M in 2007

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Big Givers

Each morning's papers yield new names and devastating losses of those invested in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, including hundreds of prominent U.S. nonprofits and foundations.

While many betrayed investors lament the disappearance of their nest eggs, it seems that foundations that benefited from Madoff's time bomb of lucrative returns gave much of their profits away, leaving them with little to continue operations and grant-making.

In a report compiled by Bloomberg from last year's tax returns listed on Guidestar.org, foundations who have disclosed their investments with Madoff gave away a total of $73 million last year.

Several foundations have been forced to close their doors as a result, including the JEHT Foundation, which blamed its investments with Madoff in a heartfelt letter to supporters, and the Picower Foundation, which had previous assets of $1 billion, from which it gave generously to institutions such as M.I.T. and the New York Public Library.

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Tags: foundations, guidestar.org, JEHT foundation, JehtFoundation, madoff, nonprofits, picower foundation, PicowerFoundation

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