Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Reuters – Bernard Madoff was sentenced on Monday to 150 years in prison — the maximum penalty the judge could give him for "extraordinarily evil" crimes in Wall Street’s biggest and most brazen investment fraud.
Fleeced investors in the courtroom cheered and applauded as the judge handed down the penalty.
Madoff, 71, stood passively with his hands clasped at his waist, showing no reaction when he heard the sentence that will send him to prison for the rest of his life.
New York (Hedgeco.Net) – Bernard Madoff was finally promoted from house arrest to maximum security prison, after pleading guilty to the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Madoff, who swindled an estimated $65 billion out of the most elite investors, could face up to 150 years of prison.
“I operated a Ponzi scheme through the investment advisory side of my business,” Madoff admitted to U.S. Judge Denny Chin at the hearing, referring to Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. He did contend that his U.K.-based affiliate, Madoff Securities International along with the units run by his two sons were all legitimate entities.
“I am actually grateful for this opportunity to publicly speak about my crimes, for which I am so deeply sorry and ashamed,” Madoff confessed in the Manhattan courtroom. “I knew what I was doing was wrong, indeed criminal.”
Madoff spent years building up a stellar reputation with the rich and famous, many of whom invested their life savings with him. Madoff told the judge he started feeling pressure in the early 90’s to deliver the consistent returns that his investors expected. This jump started the staple Ponzi scheme action of using new capital coming in to pay returns to existing investors.
Instead of investing in securities like he promised his clients, Madoff instead deposited their cash into an account at Chase Manhattan Bank, where he would withdraw funds as needed for investor redemptions.
“I believed it would end shortly, and I would be able to extricate myself,” he said of the scheme. “As the years went by, I realized that my arrest and this day would inevitably come.”
Madoff’s sons have not been charged with any wrongdoing, nor have any employees at his New York City headquarters although investigations are still in the works. Attorneys for Madoff’s wife, Ruth, state that she was the sole owner of their Manhattan apartment, along with $17 million in cash and $45 million in bonds.
Madoff’s attorney, Ira Sorkin said he would appeal the jailing before his sentencing hearing on June 16.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. www.hedgefundlounge.com, www.hedgefundtools.com, and www.hedgefundemployment.com
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Missing hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel, who disappeared last week along with an estimated $350 million of investor’s money, turned himself in to the FBI yesterday.
The Sarasota resident, 76, turned himself in at a Tampa office, accompanied by his legal team and his partner, Todd Foster. In the courtroom later that day, his lawyer Barry Cohen told the judge that Nadel has been “visiting with the psychiatrist the past week” after “suffering some emotional problems.” The judge postponed the bail hearing for three days.
Nadel faces a federal charge of securities and wire fraud after using “manipulative and deceptive devices” to bilk investors out of hundreds of millions. Shortly after the infamous arrest of Bernard Madoff, Nadel’s family reported him missing on January 14.
Nadel reportedly wrote a letter to his wife before he missing. According to reports, he allegedly told her to withdraw as much cash as she could before their accounts were frozen.
According to the criminal complaint, Nadel’s fraud dates back to at least 2003 and has affected over 100 victims nationwide. There is also a civil complaint filed against Nadel by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who alleges that he transferred $1.25 million into secret bank accounts.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – U.S. authorities have officially declared Raoul Weil, formerly of UBS, a fugitive.
The one-time prominent business man and former chairman of UBS’s global wealth management unit, failed to surrender to police after being charged with aiding wealthy individuals in hiding their assets from the Internal Revenue Service.
According to the original complaint, Weil, who was based in Switzerland, headed a team of bankers that aimed to help 17,000 Americans hide about $20 billion via Swiss bank accounts, in hopes of avoiding U.S. taxes.
At that time, Weil worked in UBS’s cross-border private banking business. He stepped down from the bank when the charges were made public.
The order came yesterday in a Ft. Lauderdale courtroom, where Judge James Cohn officially removed Weil, 49, from the court’s pending case list and placed him on the clerk’s fugitive list.
If convicted, Weil faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – New York University scored a victory yesterday, when they won a court order that sought an extension on a temporary ban that would halt J. Ezra Merkin from making any more transfers with the school’s funds. Merkin had millions of dollars of the University’s funds tied up in investments with Bernard Madoff.
Merkin, the man behind the Gabriel Capital LP fund and the Ariel Fund Ltd., is prohibited from withdrawing, transferring or liquidating assets, after a ruling from Supreme Court Justice Richard Lowe in a Manhattan courtroom yesterday.
According to the original complaint filed by NYU in late December, Merkin “was explicitly told” to stay away from Madoff related investments. Merkin then allegedly invested with Madoff regardless of the orders, losing an estimated $24 million of the University’s funds with the Ponzi-schemer.
"In the face of an extraordinary number of red flags, Merkin, for years, simply turned over a substantial portion of Ariel’s funds to Madoff for management,” NYU alleges.
The University, who had $94 billion total invested with Merkin, fears that it may lose the entirety of its investment.
“Mr. Merkin has always acted in good faith and did not deceive NYU or any other investors,” said Andrew Levander, Merkin’s lawyer.
Gabriel Capital, which manages about $1.5 billion but posted losses of 39 percent in 2008, was planning to liquidate amidst the aftermath of the Madoff debacle, along with Ariel, but must have permission from the courts to do so first.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
