From Reuters:
Bernard Madoff, a quiet force on Wall Street for decades, was arrested and charged on Thursday with allegedly running a $50 billion "Ponzi scheme" in what may rank among the biggest fraud cases ever.
The former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market is best known as the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the closely-held market-making firm he launched in 1960. But he also ran a hedge fund that U.S. prosecutors said racked up $50 billion of fraudulent losses.
Madoff told senior employees of his firm on Wednesday that "it's all just one big lie" and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme", with estimated investor losses of about $50 billion, according to the U.S. Attorney's criminal complaint against him....MORE
HT: DealBreaker who writes:Bernie Madoff Death Watch (NYP)
Which is more likely: an investor takes a hit on Madoff or a Madoff investor kills himself? Sayeth the Post: Suicide hotlines in Greenwich, Conn., could be lit up today as investors in the posh suburb begin to realize how much they've lost in the rip-off scheme perpetrated by Wall Street legend Bernard Madoff.[...]
Groups known to have worked with Madoff in the past include alternative-asset manager Fairfield Greenwich Group, the Nomura Bank of Japan, and Swiss asset-management firm NPB New Private Bank.
Sources tell The Post that Madoff managed money for Fairfield Greenwich through a $7 billion hedge fund called Fairfield Sentry, which Nomura and NPB offered to clients.
And these guys will probably be dead soon anyway but you never know:
Membership rosters at a number of Florida country clubs could be particularly hard hit by Mr. Madoff's alleged scheme, including Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton and the Palm Beach Country Club in Palm Beach. Members of these clubs helped promote Mr. Madoff's services to the clubs' membership, though the clubs themselves weren't involved, club members said. Having money with Mr. Madoff was a symbol of prestige within these clubs, several member say.
