fraud – News Stories About fraud - Page 27

Trustee Sues Madoff Insider, Says He Must Have Known

May 2, 2009 11:09 AM CDT

Trustee Sues Madoff Insider, Says He Must Have Known

LA money manager got rich on fake returns

(Newser) - A trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernie Madoff's assets filed a lawsuit against one of the Ponzi schemer’s investors yesterday, accusing investment manager Stanley Chais of getting such “implausibly high” returns that he should have known they were a sham. Chais and his family withdrew “untold” funds...

Longtime Friend Testifies to Astor's Senility

May 1, 2009 12:24 PM CDT

Longtime Friend Testifies to Astor's Senility

Author Auchincloss told her son's lawyer she didn't recognize him

(Newser) - A longtime friend of philanthropist Brooke Astor testified yesterday that her faculties were so deteriorated the last time he saw her that she did not recognize him, the New York Daily News reports. Author Louis Auchincloss said the encounter took place 2 years before Astor allegedly changed her will, awarding...

Dazed Astor Didn't Recognize Jesse Jackson: Witness

Apr 29, 2009 4:42 PM CDT

Dazed Astor Didn't Recognize Jesse Jackson: Witness

Her son also convinced her she was going broke

(Newser) - A decade before her death, Brooke Astor was so out of it that she couldn’t recognize Jesse Jackson, a prosecution witness testified today in the fraud trial against Astor’s son, the New York Daily News reports. Anthony Marshall’s defense rides on his mother’s mental state, with...

Son 'Manhandled Astor to Change Will': Prosecutor

Apr 28, 2009 5:13 AM CDT

Son 'Manhandled Astor to Change Will': Prosecutor

Anthony Marshall exploited mom's dementia to funnel fortune to him, says prosecutor.

(Newser) - Brooke Astor's son "dragged" his frail mom from her nurse's arms to a closed-door meeting about her will, which was immediately changed in his favor, according to the prosecutor at the heir's fraud and grand larceny trial yesterday in New York. Anthony Marshall exploited his vulnerable mother's dementia to...

Dirty-Dealing Madoff Was a Clean Freak

investigation

Apr 24, 2009 2:01 PM CDT

Dirty-Dealing Madoff Was a Clean Freak

Ponzi schemer a Luddite who crawled on all fours to align rugs

(Newser) - "Neat freak" may be one of the more polite epithets used to describe Bernie Madoff, who comes off as an obsessive-compulsive nut in a Fortune profile by James Bandler and Nicholas Varchaver. In immaculately tailored suits, he dusted furniture and got down on hands and knees to straighten rugs....

Madoff's 'Ninja' Deputy
Willing to Talk to Feds

Apr 24, 2009 12:00 PM CDT

Madoff's 'Ninja' Deputy Willing to Talk to Feds

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff's chief deputy is ready to talk, Fortune reports. Frank DiPascali is working out a deal with federal prosecutors in which he’ll name names and give details of how the massive Ponzi scheme operated. Among the surprises: No Madoff family members will be implicated, at least by DiPascali....

20 Crime Probes Launched Into Bailout Fraud

Apr 21, 2009 6:59 AM CDT

20 Crime Probes Launched Into Bailout Fraud

Inspector calls TARP 'inherently vulnerable' to insider trading, abuse

(Newser) - Federal authorities have begun 20 separate investigations into possible fraud, tax violations, insider trading, and other criminal activities surrounding Henry Paulson's $750 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, reports the Los Angeles Times. It's only the first round of probes, according to the bailout program's inspector general, who called TARP "...

Oprah's Not
Giving You $1M,
FBI Warns Marks

Apr 9, 2009 2:05 AM CDT

Oprah's Not Giving You $1M, FBI Warns Marks

Bogus email asks for cash payment to attend Oprah 'giveaway'

(Newser) - The FBI has warned that Oprah Winfrey isn't really giving anybody $1 million, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Scamsters have been sending people emails about a supposed "Oprah Winfrey Millionaire Contest Show." Recipients are told they have been nominated to attend a special show where the host will hand...

Cuomo Charges Madoff Feeder With Fraud

Apr 6, 2009 12:24 PM CDT

Cuomo Charges Madoff Feeder With Fraud

Says 'investment guru' Merkin was really just 'master marketer'

(Newser) - New York AG Andrew Cuomo has charged J. Ezra Merkin, a prominent New York philanthropist who funneled $2.4 billion into Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, with fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports. The complaint doesn’t accuse Merkin of knowing about the scheme. But it alleges that he lied...

Astor Trial Crawls
as Lawyers Squabble

Apr 6, 2009 11:25 AM CDT

Astor Trial Crawls as Lawyers Squabble

Would-be jurors plan for 3-month commitment

(Newser) - As the second week of jury selection in the Brooke Astor trial began today, with potential jurors being asked if they can sit still for a 3-month trial, the judge upbraided the lawyers for bickering and grandstanding as if they never wanted it to end, the New York Times reports....

Madoff's Taste in Home Decor Full of Bull

Apr 2, 2009 2:08 PM CDT

Madoff's Taste in Home Decor Full of Bull

(Newser) - While seizing Bernie Madoff's Palm Beach possessions yesterday, US Marshals got an eyeful of the fraudster's home furnishings, reports the Palm Beach Post. And they weren't impressed. "I've never seen so much bull in my life," said one deputy. "Pictures of bulls, bull statues, even bulls on...

Feds Seize Madoff's Boats

Apr 1, 2009 12:41 PM CDT

Feds Seize Madoff's Boats

Yacht, motorboat part of his $823M fortune

(Newser) - US Marshals seized two boats belonging to jailed schemer Bernie Madoff today, the AP reports. The vessels—a 55-foot yacht and a 24-foot motorboat that were docked at separate Florida marinas—were part of the $823 million in assets Madoff and his wife had accumulated by the end of last...

Madoff Feeder Fund Charged With Fraud

Apr 1, 2009 9:55 AM CDT

Madoff Feeder Fund Charged With Fraud

Mass. complaint vs. Fairfield Greenwich is regulatory, not criminal

(Newser) - Massachusetts regulators charged Fairfield Greenwich Group with fraud today, the Wall Street Journal reports, saying it failed in its fiduciary duties by funneling money into Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Fairfield was one of Madoff’s top feeder funds, and there was a “profound disparity between the due diligence...

McEnroe Helps Nab Art Dealer

Mar 26, 2009 7:04 PM CDT

McEnroe Helps Nab Art Dealer

(Newser) - A prominent art dealer arrested today and accused of running a sort of art-world Ponzi scheme made one crucial mistake—he got John McEnroe mad again. The tennis great with the legendary temper triggered the investigation after being duped out of $2 million by Lawrence Salander, the New York Daily ...

NYC Art Dealer Charged
With $88M Fraud

Mar 26, 2009 2:51 PM CDT

NYC Art Dealer Charged With $88M Fraud

(Newser) - A New York art dealer was charged today with stealing $88 million in investments and artwork in what may be an art-world Ponzi scheme, the Times reports. Investors and collectors say they entrusted Lawrence Salander with funds or artwork after the dealer promised hefty returns. In many cases, they were...

Investors Hire Gumshoes to Snoop on Fund Managers

Mar 23, 2009 4:24 PM CDT

Investors Hire Gumshoes to Snoop on Fund Managers

Fraud schemes prove boon to private eyes

(Newser) - Investors are increasingly hiring private investigators to dig up dirt on fund managers in hopes of avoiding the next Madoff-style fraud, Bloomberg reports. Background checks are expensive—depending on the firm, they may cost $1,000 per company or individual investigated—and can take weeks, but investors say they are...

Congo Con Joins Madoff Victims' Chorus ... Sorta

Mar 23, 2009 3:13 PM CDT

Congo Con Joins Madoff Victims' Chorus ... Sorta

Standard 'foreign investment' scam email made it past US Attorney's office

(Newser) - The federal prosecutors collecting testimonials from victims of Bernard Madoff for the judge slated to sentence him don’t appear to have been too discerning, Josh Marshall reports for Talking Points Memo, after a standard-issue “African businessman” spam email made it into the pile. And though the promised $3....

Judge Denies
Madoff's Bail Appeal

Mar 20, 2009 11:17 AM CDT

Judge Denies Madoff's Bail Appeal

Fraudster will wait in jail until June sentencing

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today denied Bernard Madoff’s request to be released on bail until his June sentencing date, the New York Daily News reports. “The defendant’s age and exposure to imprisonment are undisputed, and the court did not err in inferring an incentive to flee from...

Madoff Accountant Faces
105 Years for Fraud

Mar 18, 2009 12:26 PM CDT

Madoff Accountant Faces 105 Years for Fraud

He signed off on false books for years: feds

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff's longtime accountant has been arrested and charged with securities fraud in the $64 billion Ponzi scheme, the New York Post reports. David Friehling, 49, is accused of helping Madoff dupe his investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission by filing fake audits. Friehling allegedly received $186,000 annually...

Lawyer: Send Madoff Home

Mar 13, 2009 3:38 PM CDT

Lawyer: Send Madoff Home

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff's lawyers appeared in court today to ask that the confessed Ponzi schemer be returned to his $7 million penthouse to await June sentencing on fraud charges. Federal prosecutors must now file a response and await an appeals court ruling, meaning the 70-year-old felon will spend at least the...