Who Really Made Off With the 50 Billion?

Poor 'ol Bernie Madoff, played for a sucker and is taking his first piss like a man. He will be well rewarded after this is over.

They are throwing the term "Ponzi Scheme" around now like we all know what the hell it means. I didn't. But then I'm not in the business of ripping people off for a living either, so I guess I wouldn't know that term. However, I did go to the trouble of looking it up so I would know what it was when I criticize it.

Where does the term Ponzi Scheme originate from?

Charles Ponzi (March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949) was one of the greatest swindlers in American history. His aliases include Charles Ponei, Charles P. Bianchi, Carl and Carlo. The term "Ponzi scheme" is a widely known description of any scam that relies on a "pyramid" of "investors" who contribute money to a fraudulent program. He promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days, or 100% profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in other countries and redeeming them at face value in the United States as a form of arbitrage. Ponzi was probably inspired by the scheme of William Miller, a Brooklyn bookkeeper who in 1899 used the same pyramid scheme to take in $1 million.

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Well there you have it. It's a Pyramid Scheme. Why couldn't they call it that? Everyone knows what a Pyramid Scheme is. I guess it wasn't glamorous enough a term for them. PONZI SCHEME sounds so much more ominous.

I have waited a while before commenting on this because I wanted to see which way Madoff was going to be taken first. I suspected he was a fall guy. That kind of goes without saying. But would Madoff do a Blago on them or would he go along and take the hit because there would be a sweet payoff later on? Well, looks like he is taking the sweet payoff later on. I guess with as old as he is, that would be the way to go. He really has nothing to gain by standing up against them and trying to fight. After all look at what he loses. He's too old for it to really matter.

He'll get a couple of years in jail MAYBE! He may end up doing his time in his penthouse. With everything else going on I don't think it really matters to the people. They don't seem to care that they are getting ripped off. I mean you hear about some of the rich whining and crying about it but they don't count, they have millions. I'm talking about the little people. But then the little people weren't effected by Bernie Madoff. He was only going after the wealthy.

The targets are what I am interested in seeing. Who were the "victims" that Madoff targeted?

HIT LIST

Fairfield Greenwich Advisors - An investment management firm

$7,500,000,000

More than half of Fairfield Greenwich's $14.1 billion in assets under management, or about $7.5 billion was connected to Madoff.

Tremont Group Holdings - Asset management firm

$3,300,000,000

The investment firm is owned by OppenheimerFunds and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Tremont's Rye Investment Management business had $3.1 billion invested, and its fund of funds group invested another $200 million. The loss is more than half of all assets overseen by Tremont.

Banco Santander - Spanish bank

$2,870,000,000

In euros, the figure is 2.33 billion.Of that, 2.01 billion euros belongs to institutional investors, Optimal Strategic hedge fund investors (international private banking customers); 320 mllion euros belongs to other private banking customers.

Bank Medici - Austrian bank

$2,100,000,000

The bank had two funds with $2.1 billion (1.5 billion euros) invested with Madoff. Bank Medici is 25% owned by Unicredit SpA and 75% owned by chairwoman Sonja Kohn. Hedge funds run by the bank had almost all their money invested with Madoff.

Ascot Partners - A hedge fund founded by billionaire investor, philanthropist and GMAC chief J. Ezra Merkin

$1,800,000,000

The hedge fund had $1.8 billion under management as of Sept. 30, had substantially all of its assets invested with Mr. Madoff. Austria's government named Gerhard Altenberger to manage the bank, but won't supply it with funds.

Access International Advisors - A New York based investment firm

$1,500,000,000

The investment-advisory firm's co-founder Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, 65, was found dead in his Manhattan office on Dec. 24, 2008, in an apparent suicide. Mr. De La Villehuchet lost about $50 million, the bulk of his personal wealth.

Fortis - Dutch bank

$1,350,000,000

Fortis Bank and its subsidiaries have no direct exposure to Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC, but parts of the group do have a risk exposure to certain funds it provides collateralized lending to. If, as a result of the alleged fraud, the value of the assets of these funds is nil and the respective clients cannot meet their obligations, Fortis Bank Nederland (Holding) N.V.'s loss could amount to around EUR 850 million to EUR 1 billion. The continuity of Fortis Bank Nederland (Holding) N.V.and its subsidiaries is not at stake in any way.

Union Bancaire Privee - Swiss bank

$700,000,000

Half of UBP's 22 funds of funds put at least some of their money into Madoff-related investment vehicles, including one run by J. Ezra Merkin. The principal fund, Dinvest Total Return, had about 3% of its more than $1 billion of assets in Madoff-related funds. One fund of funds had as much as 6.9% of assets in Madoff-related funds. The bank had most recently met with Madoff Nov. 25 as part of an ongoing vetting process.

HSBC - British bank

$1,000,000,000

HSBC provided financing to a small number of institutional clients who invested in funds with Madoff; some clients in its global custody business have invested with Madoff, but the company doesn't believe these arrangements should be a source of exposure to the group.

Natixis SA - A French investment bank

$554,400,000

The company says it didn't make direct investment in Madoff-managed funds; some investments made on behalf of customers could have ended up being managed by Madoff. Exposure is about 450 million euros.

Carl Shapiro - The founder & former chairman of apparel company Kay Windsor Inc., & his wife

$500,000,000

Mr. Shapiro, a 95-year-old apparel entrepreneur and investor, has personally lost an estimated $400 million from the Madoff fraud, including $250 million he gave Mr. Madoff on Dec. 1. His charitable foundation, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, has lost an estimated $100 million or more. Mr. Shapiro, a widely respected philanthropist, was one of Mr. Madoff's earliest and largest investors.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC - British bank

$492,760,000

The bank had exposure of about 400 million pounds to Madoff through trading, collateralized lending.

BNP Paribas - French bank

$431,170,000

The company said it has no investment of its own in Madoff-managed hedge fund but it does have risk exposure (up to 350 million euros) through its trading business and collateralized lending to funds of hedge funds.

BBVA - Spanish bank

$369,570,000

The company reiterated it doesn't have direct exposure to Madoff but would face losses of 300 million euros if Madoff funds were found not to exist.

Man Group PLC - A UK Hedge Fund

$360,000,000

Invested in funds directly/indirectly sub-advised by Madoff Securities

Reichmuth & Co - A Swiss private bank

$327,000,000

The Lucerne-based private bank warned investors that around 385 million Swiss francs, or 3.5% of its assets under management, were affected.

Nomura Holdings - Japanese brokerage firm

$304,000,000

The 27.5 billion yen exposure is through Fairfield Sentry; That amount represents 0.2% of assets under management.

Maxam Capital Management - A fund of funds based in Darien, Connecticut

$280,000,000

The fund reported a combined loss of $280 million on funds they had invested.

EIM SA - A European investment manager with about $11 billion in assets

$230,000,000

The European investment manager with about $11 billion in assets. Overall, EIM assets at risk are less than 2% of what it manages.

AXA SA - French insurance giant

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Exposure is well below 100 million euros.

UniCredit SpA - Italian Bank

$92,390,000

The company's total exposure is about 75 million euros. Dublin-based Pioneer Alternative Investments is indirectly exposed to Madoff via feeders; Italian clients have zero exposure.

Nordea Bank AB - Swedish Bank

$59,130,000

The amount of exposure is about 48 million euros.

Hyposwiss - A Swiss private bank owned by St. Galler Kantonalbank

$50,000,000

Hyposwiss said roughly 0.1% of its overall assets was invested in Madoff products through managed accounts. Another $100 million is exposed through clients who chose to invest in Madoff funds. St. Galler Kantonalbank said its financial situation and liquidity aren't hurt by Hyposwiss' exposure.

Banque Benedict Hentsch & Cie. SA - A Swiss-based private bank

$48,800,000

Banque Benedict Hentsch said its clients have 56 million Swiss francs at risk. Benedict Hentsch had also recently agreed to merge with Fairfield Greenwich Group, a major Madoff distributor. When the news of Mr. Madoff's arrest broke, it scrambled to undo that deal.

Fairfield, Connecticut - Town Pension Fund

$42,000,000

The town's employees board and police and fire board, which cover 971 workers, had $41.9 million invested with Madoff, said Paul Hiller, Fairfield's chief fiscal officer.

Bramdean Alternatives - An asset manager

$31,200,000

The exposure is about 9.5% of assets.

Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles - The largest manager of charitable gift assets for Los Angeles Jewish philanthropists

$18,000,000

The amount invested with Madoff represented less than 5% of the Foundation's assets.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd - Israel-based insurance firm

$14,200,000

Baloise Holding AG - Swiss Insurer

$13,000,000

Societe Generale - French Bank

$12,320,000

The company says its exposure, which is less than 10 million euros, is "negligible."

Groupama SA - French Insurer

$12,320,000

Exposure is around 10 million euros.

Credit Agricole SA - French bank

$12,320,000

Exposure is less than 10 million euros.

Richard Spring - Individual Investor

$11,000,000

A Boca Raton resident & former securities analyst, says he had about 95% of his net worth invested with Mr. Madoff. Mr. Spring said he was also one of the unofficial agents who connected Mr. Madoff with dozens of investors, from a teacher who put in $50,000 to entrepreneurs and executives who would put in millions.

RAB Capital - Hedge Fund

$10,000,000

Banco Popolare - Italian bank

$9,860,000

The company says it had indirect exposure of up to 8 million euros; maximum lost on funds distributed to institutional, private clients is about 60 million euros.

Korea Teachers Pension - A 10 trillion won Korean pension fund

$9,100,000

Swiss Life Holding - Swiss insurer

$78,900,000

Swiss Life said it has indirectly invested assets worth around 90 million Swiss francs through funds of funds managed by Madoff Investment Securities.

North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System - health system

$5,700,000

Exposure represents less than 1% of the health system's investment portfolio. A donor agreed to reimburse the system for any losses.

Neue Privat Bank - Swiss bank

$5,000,000

The bank invested in a certificate based on a hedge fund with exposure to Madoff

Clal Insurance Enterprise Holdings - An Israel-based financial services company

$3,100,000

Ira Roth - Individual Investor

$1,000,000

Mr. Roth, a New Jersey resident, says his family has about $1 million invested through Mr. Madoff's firm.

Mediobanca SpA - via its subsidiary Compagnie Monegasque de Banque.

$671,000

Limited to $671,000 via its Compagnie Monegasque de Banque. via its subsidiary Compagnie Monegasque de Banque.

Fred Wilpon - Owner of New York Mets

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Steven Spielberg - The Spielberg charity -- the Wunderkinder Foundation

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

JEHT Foundation - A New York foundation focused on electoral and criminal justice reform

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The foundation, which stands for Justice, Equality, Human dignity and Tolerance, will close its doors at the end of January 2009. Major donors Jeanne Levy-Church and Kenneth Levy-Church had all their funds managed through Madoff.

Mortimer B. Zuckerman Charitable Remainder Trust - The charitable trust of real-estate magnate, who owns the Daily News and U.S. News & World Report

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Funds exposed represented 11% of the value of that charitable trust.

Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation - A Massachusetts-based Jewish charity

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The group, which financed trips for Jewish youth to Israel, was forced to close because the money that supported its programs was invested with Madoff.

Chais Family Foundation - A charity that gave to Jewish causes

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Money manager Stanley Chais managed investments he called "the arbitrage partnerships," according to investors and firm correspondence. His California-based charity group invested entirely with Madoff, and was forced to shut down operations after years of donating some $12.5 million annually to Jewish causes in Israel and Eastern Europe.

KBC Group NV - Belgian Banking & Insurance Group

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

No direct exposure; some indirect exposure through collateralized loans, but the exposure is very limited and immaterial to KBC's earnings. KBC has also made some loan advances to institutional customers who have invested in funds managed by Madoff Investment Securities, but this shouldn't have any material impact either, the company said.

Barclays PLC - British bank

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The bank says it has "minimal" exposure" and is "fully collateralized"

Dexia - French bank

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

No direct investments in funds managed by Madoff,; private banking clients have total exposure of 78 million euros to funds primarily invested in Madoff funds. Indirectly, Dexia is exposed through partially collateralized lending operations to funds exposed to Madoff funds for a gross amount of 164 million euros. If the assets managed by Madoff Investment Securities were nil, the above mentioned lending operations could trigger an after tax loss of about 85 million euros for Dexia.

Allianz Global Investors - The asset management unit of German insurer Allianz SE

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The unit says exposure "is not significant."

Banco Espanol de Credito SA (Banesto) - A Spanish bank contolled by Banco Santander

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Its clients have a total 2 million euro exposure; The amount is included in the 2.33 billion euros already disclosed by parent company Banco Santander.

CNP Assurances - French insurer

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

No direct exposure. Indirect exposure of 3 million euros via a fund of funds

UBS AG - Swiss bank

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The bank says is has "no material exposure." It declined to comment on press reports that its funds-of-funds for clients had $1.4 billion in exposure

Yeshiva University - A New York - based private university

$14,500,000

The university's chief financial officer said that the school's actual principal investment in a hedge fund linked to Madoff had been only $14.5 million. On paper, that stake had exploded in value over the past 15 years to $110 million. Although the university had "no direct investments" in Madoff's firm, a portion of its endowment had been invested for 15 years with Ascot Partners, which had "substantially all its assets invested with Madoff." J. Ezra Merkin had been a University trustee but has resigned. Madoff was also on the school's board but has resigned.

The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity - The charitable foundation of Nobel laureate

$15,200,000

The Foundation's mission, rooted in the memory of the Holocaust, is to combat indifference, intolerance and injustice through international dialogue and youth-focused programs that promote acceptance, understanding and equality. It said it invested "substantially all" of its assets.

Leonard Feinstein - The co-founder of retailer Bed Bath & Beyond

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Sen. Frank Lautenberg - The charitable foundation of the New Jersey Senator's family

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Norman Braman - former owner of Philadelphia Eagles

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Jeffrey Katzenberg - The chief executive of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Mr. Katzenberg's financial affairs along with those of Mr. Spielberg were managed by Mr. Breslauer, Mr. Katzenberg has suffered millions in Madoff-connected losses, say people familiar with the matter.

Gerald Breslauer - The Hollywood financial advisor to Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Along with Katzenberg and Spielberg, Breslauer himself has likely sustained heavy losses in the Madoff affair. He customarily invests alongside his clients, say these people, and has sometimes been a larger investor than the people he represented

Kingate Management - Hedge Fund

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Kingate's $2.8 billion hedge fund Kiingate Global Fund reportedly invested heavily with Madoff

Julian J. Levitt Foundation - Texas-based charity

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Loeb family

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Lawrence Velvel - Individual Investor

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Mr. Velvel is dean of the Massachusetts School of Law

Fix Asset Management - Hedge Fund

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Reportedly invested heavily in Madoff's portfolios

Genevalor, Benbassat & Cie - Money manager in Geneva

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Members of the Benbassat family, which run the firm, have long known Mr. Madoff. In a statement on its Web site, Genevalor said it "has been reviewing the potential damages caused to its clients" by the alleged Madoff fraud. A statement from the Thema fund said it had assets with Madoff that were now frozen, but did not elaborate.

Banco Espirito Santo - Portugese bank

$21,400,000

The amount represents about 0.1% of assets under management.

Great Eastern Holding - Singapore insurer

$44,266,000

Great Eastern said S$7.7 million of its S$64 million exposure is invested from its Life Fund. Great Eastern is 87% owned ny Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

M&B Capital Advisers - Spanish brokerage

$52,800,000

The firm is run by the son and son-in-law of the chairman of Banco Santander. Through M&B, private and institutional investors bought more than $214 million in Madoff's funds.

Royal Dutch Shell pension fund - Global energy & petrochemical company

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The pension fund fund has an indirect investment that may be affected. The fund originally invested $45 million. The alleged fraud won't affect the financial position and funding status of the fund.

Phoenix Holdings - Israeli financial services company

$12,600,000

Phoenix's insurance unit invested $15 million over the last three years in funds managed by Thema, which made investments through Madoff. In November, the company requested to redeem $10 million. The payment was due Dec. 12 but Phoenix hasn't received it.

Credicorp - Peruvian financial services company

$4,500,000

Credicorp's Atlantic Security Bank unit has $1 million in direct exposure and up to $3.5 million in potential contingencies "related to transactions secured by these investments."

Fukoku Mutual Life Co - Japanese insurer

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The company said it holds similar investments trusts to those held by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. but declined to specify the balance. Sumitomo disclosed that it has about 2 billion yen, or about $22 million, exposed via trusts.

New York Law School - Law School in New York City

$300,000

The school invested the money through its endowment entity. The school filed an investor lawsuit against J. Ezra Merkin, Ascot Partners and BDO Seidman.

Nipponkoa Insurance - Japanese insurer

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The company said it holds similar investments trusts to those held by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. but declined to specify the balance. Sumitomo disclosed that it has about Y2 billion exposed via trusts.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co - Japanese insurer

$22,000,000

Sumitomo Life didn't invest directly in the Madoff fund but part of its investment trust holdings were linked to it.

Swiss Reinsurance Co - Swiss insurer

$3,000,000

Indirect exposure, less than $3 million, is through hedge fund investments; no direct exposure.

Aozora Bank Ltd - Japanese lender

$137,000,000

Aozora entrusted 12.4 billion yen to investment funds, which invested with Madoff. Cerberus Capital Management LP owns a majority stake in Aozora.

UBI Banca - Italian bank

$86,000,000

The bank said the exposure is linked to proprietary investments. UBI Pramerica and Capitalgest Alternative Investments, the assets-under-management units, have no exposure.

Taiyo Life Insurance Co - Japanese insurer

$221,000

Taiyo Life didn't invest directly in the Madoff fund.

Caisse d'Epargne - French bank

$11,100,000

Caisse d'Epargne said 1 million euros was for Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne, the central hub, and "under 7 million euros" was from its regional level.

J. Gurwin Foundation - Charity

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

$28 million charity invested heavily in Madoff funds. Gurwin said, "We got a body blow. We did not get killed."

EFG International - Swiss private bank

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

EFG clients have $130 million invested in Madoff through third-party funds sold by EFG. In addition, 0.3% of the bank's total invested assets, held in custody, are invested in Madoff.

Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado - Pension fund

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Fund, with $2.5 billion under management, had $60 million invested with Fairfield Greenwich until six months ago

International Olympic Committee - Olympic organizer

$4,800,000

The IOC's exposure represents about 1% of its total investment portfolio. Organizing committee confirmed they will be able to meet their obligations.

Support Organization for the Madison Cultural Arts District - Wisconsin cultural organization

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

$18 million invested with Fairfield Greenwich until September. A spokesman for the Overture Center in Madison, Wis., built with SOMCAD funds, said, "Speculation that SOMCAD could be on the hook is not outlandish."

Credit Industrial et Commercial - French financial-services group

$125,400,000

The bank has no direct exposure to Madoff but could be affected through an intermediary.

Hadassah - US Women's Zionist Organization

$90,000,000

United Association Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 267 in Syracuse - Local union pension and health care funds

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The union is still trying to determine the extent of its losses. Its investments with Mr. Madoff go back 15 years.

Ramaz School - A Jewish school in New York

$6,000,000

Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun - A synagogue in New York

$3,500,000

The Maimonides School - A Jewish day school in Brookline, Mass.

$3,000,000

The school did not directly invest with Madoff, but the school was the sole beneficiary of a trust that lost about $3 million.

Yad Sarah - An Israeli Non Profit Organization

$1,500,000

With a $21 million budget in 2008, Yad Sarah likely won't expand operations or develop any new services or projects in 2009.

Kevin Bacon & wife Kyra Sedgwick - Hollywood actors

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Mr. Bacon's publicist, Allen Eichhorn, confirmed that the couple had investments with Madoff, but wouldn't say how much money they might have lost.

Eric Roth - Hollywood screenwriter

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

His credits include "Forrest Gump" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Henry Kaufman - Individual investor, former Salomon Brothers chief economist

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

The former Salomon Brothers chief economist's bearish views decades ago earned him the nickname "Dr. Doom." Mr. Kaufman, 81 years old, lost several million dollars. He had the money in a brokerage account with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities for more than five years. Mr. Kaufman said the amount was "no more than a couple percent of my entire net worth," estimated to be several hundred million dollars.

New York University - University

$24,000,000

NYU filed a lawsuit claiming J. Ezra Merkin turned over his investment responsibilities to Madoff's funds and lost $24 million of the school's money. The suit names as defendants Merkin's Ariel Fund Ltd.; the fund's investment manager, Gabriel Capital Corp.; and Fortis Bank. NYU had invested $94 million in Ariel, a partnership between Merkin and Fortis, in the mid-1990s. A lawyer for Mr. Merkin said the school only invested $30 million and made $60 million. Ariel plans to liquidate due to Madoff-related losses, but a temporary restraining order prohibits assets from being transferred out of the fund.

Aioi Insurance Co - Japanese insurer

$1,100,000

Aioi said it didn't make a direct investment in the Madoff fund.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co - Japanese insurer

$1,100,000

Meiji Yasuda didn't invest directly in the Madoff fund.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co - Japanese insurer

$8,800,000

Mitsui Sumitomo didn't invest directly in the Madoff fund.

Burt Ross - former mayor of a town in New Jersey

$5,000,000

Mr. Ross believes he has lost about $5 million, the bulk of his net worth, investing with Madoff.

Genium Advisors - Swiss Money Manager

$281,400

Exposure is nearly 6.7% of a E$4.2 million fund invested in Fairfield Sentry Roland Priborsky, Genium's chief, said he was comfortable with the Fairfield Sentry investment in part because it was included in a list of funds on which Union Bancaire Privee said it had done due diligence.

Sterling Stamos Capital Management LP - Investment firm with offices in New York City & Menlo Park, Calif.

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Six funds each have 1.5%-3% of assets exposed to Madoff. In a Dec. 30 letter sent to clients, the investment firm said it has "some limited indirect exposure" to Madoff. This came after the firm issued a press release on Dec. 12 denying any Madoff investments. The exposure was through Gabriel Capital LP or Gabriel's offshore affiliate Ariel Fund Ltd.

Gabriel Partners - Money-management firm run by GMAC Chairman Ezra Merkin.

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Gabriel Capital Corp. is the investment manager for Merkin's Ariel fund. The Ariel hedge fund plans to liquidate because of losses to Madoff's alleged fraud.

The Diocese of St. Thomas - Catholic church in the US Virgin Islands

$2,000,000

Most of the money represented endowment funds for youngsters at two Catholic elementary schools in St. Croix, the poorest of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Phyllis Molchatsky - Individual Investor

$17,000,000

Ms. Molchatsky, a 61-year-old retiree Valley Cottage, N.Y., from filed a claim against the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging the agency was negligent in failing to detect an alleged decades-long fraud.

Members of Hillcrest Golf Club, St. Paul, Minn & Oak Ridge Country Club, Hopkins, Minn - Country Clubs

No Information Available on Financial Amount Lost

Investors from the two clubs may have invested more than $100 million combined

Bard College - University in New York

$3,000,000

Bard College, a liberal arts school in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., said it lost about $3 million that J. Ezra Merkin's Ariel Fund had invested with Mr. Madoff without the school's knowledge. The losses on the investment includes profits. A lawyer for Mr. Merkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Martin Rosenman - New York City-based heating oil distributor

$10,000,000

Mr. Rosenman, managing member of Rosenman Family LLC, wired $10 million to Madoff via a JPMorgan Chase Bank account on Dec. 5, just six days before Madoff's arrest. The funds weren't supposed to be touched until Jan. 1, according to a suit filed in bankruptcy court, but Mr. Rosenman received a statement Dec. 5 explaining the money was used to sell short $10 million in US Treasuries. There is no record that the Treasury short ever occurred.

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So there you have it, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal crack investigative team. This is the list that has been chosen for submittal to the people for "transparency" purposes. We feel better if we have a few names. But look closer at the list that was provided and you will see a pattern.

The first thing that hit me were all those Swiss Banks. Alot of people are encouraged to put their money into Swiss banks in order not to pay taxes on it. The IRS can go after that money under certain circumstances, but it is tedious. Since the IRS is a private company and not a part of the government I would think that the people who own the IRS would like to have "their money". Hire someone like Madoff, who can be used to get these "suckers" to invest it. That is one way to get the money that you think you are entitled to. People ought not to be trying to hide their money out of the country.

This looks like nothing more than a "Con Game" to come in and clean these people out of the money they are hiding around in Swiss banks, hedge funds and other places in order to avoid paying the powers that be the "taxes" that they demand. I personally liken the IRS to the Mafia. I see distinct similarities in what happens when you don't pay them both. So I refer to the money that I am FORCED to give the IRS the same way the Mafia refers to the money that the underlings pay to the Godfather on anything they make themselves. They pay "Tribute Money" to the Godfather. Hence, the IRS gets its "Tribute Money" from the little people. It can also be seen as paying "Protection Money" to the IRS as well. If you pay the "Protection Money" you won't go to jail and lose everything you own.

Ever see the movie "The Sting"? That is exactly what this whole Bernie Madoff floor show reminds me of, up to and including his name "Made Off". How corny can you get with stuff like this? The powers that be sure do like their childish games don't they?

But let's look at what makes up the majority of this list.

I notice that there are alot of New York Colleges, Jap Insurance firms, European banks, Swiss bank accounts, a few Hedge Funds & a smattering of individuals (mostly Jews, but some others) and a union or two as well as a charity or two for sympathy purposes. But what dominates that list is the Jap Insurance & Swiss Banks

You gotta wonder just what the real scam here was. I doubt Madoff is the brains behind this. But he is definitely the fall guy, the face that we can look at and blame, but it isn't his doing. The powers that be systematically do these type of things in order to get what they think they want. Are they trying to shut these places down? It's possible. I would be interested to see if any bailout money goes to ANY of these places.

The list is an interesting read. The story is interesting. But the man isn't that interesting. He looks like Ben Stein and is probably as interesting. But what happens afterwards is worth watching. Will these places and people be left smarting from being taken to the cleaners by the powers that be? Or will they be compensated? My money is on nobody gets compensation and the looting will continue.

If you bother to look back across the last 6 months there has been more money moved than ever before in our history. Between the bailout money, Madoff swindle & the crash there has been trillions moved. This also doesn't take into account the $64 trillion that happened just before the crash. Which in fact was used to bring the crash about. All this money and no one is asking any questions.

I would say that the American people are sufficiently doped up. But keep those drugs coming just in case.