Alleged Madoff fraud has worldwide exposure

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-16 09:59

In a Connecticut town, local officials scrambled to get a handle on damage to pension funds held for its police officers and firefighters. A Massachusetts charity announced it was shutting down. In New York, a distinguished economist feared he had lost his $2.2 million nest egg.

In this March 31, 2008 file photo, Gov. Jon S. Corzine looks on at left, in Trenton, N.J., as New Jersey Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, 84, announces his candidacy for re-election. [Agencies]

Damage continued to ripple from the massive fraud allegedly engineered by storied Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff Monday, even as investigators worked to unravel the scheme's working and its reach.

While details remained sketchy, the sudden collapse of Madoff's firm began revealing an impact far beyond the world of the ultra-wealthy and well-connected who were the mainstay of his client base. And the firm's extensive dealings with charitable foundations and other groups suggests the fraud may take a toll in unexpected places.

"It's devastating to people and communities and lives," said Deborah Coltin, executive director of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, a Salem, Mass., organization that sponsors Jewish educational program and is being forced to close it's doors.

The 70-year-old Madoff (MAY-doff), well respected in the investment community after serving as chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested Thursday in what prosecutors say was a $50 billion scheme to defraud investors. Some investors claim they've been wiped out, and it is thought many more are yet to come forward.

Late Monday, a federal judge directed that proceedings to liquidate the assets of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC be moved to bankruptcy court.

The biggest victims include international banking institutions HSBC Holdings PLC of Britain, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Man Group PLC, Spain's Grupo Santander SA, France's BNP Paribas and Japan's Nomura Holdings. All reported that they had fallen victim to Madoff's alleged Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme.

The alleged victims who sunk cash into the veteran money manager's investment pool include real estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, and a charity of movie director Steven Spielberg. Irwin Kellner, a well-known economist for MarketWatch.com, filed a lawsuit Friday against Madoff in US District Court in Long Island, seeking repayment of more than $2.2 million he invested with the money manager.

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