Madoff Clients: Relatives, Celebrities and Charities
Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax. Actor Kevin Bacon. World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein.
All three have at least one thing in common: Their names appear on a list of several thousand clients who lost money investing with Bernard Madoff. The list has been made public in a court filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
The list emerged late Wednesday, shortly after a whistleblower in the case, Harry Markopolos, told House lawmakers at a hearing that he had discovered that additional funds had relayed investments to Madoff in Europe—and that the managers of these "feeder" funds may have ignored signs of the massive fraud scheme.
He plans to present his findings to the Securities and Exchange Commission's inspector general Thursday. If proven, they would substantiate the assertions of many analysts that the alleged fraud was far too large for Madoff to have conducted alone.
House lawmakers on Wednesday also sparred with SEC officials, accusing them of impeding their probe into how the agency failed to uncover the alleged fraud.
Prosecutors say Madoff admits he lost more than $50 billion belonging to investors. Defense lawyers say he has cooperated with authorities to help identify assets.
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The list of client names, including those of Madoff's relatives, numerous celebrities, dead people and charitable institutions, are listed on a 162-page document. Each page carries 84 single-spaced lines. Some customers are listed multiple times, presumably because they had multiple accounts.
The customers include prominent people and institutions that already had been publicly revealed, such as the Wilpon family, owner of the New York Mets.
Also listed were more than two dozen accounts involving the Mets and companies affiliated with their owners were listed, many with addresses at Shea Stadium.
The amount each person or institution invested with Madoff isn't listed.
One client is Ira Sorkin, the attorney who's defending Madoff against charges he perpetrated the biggest financial fraud in history. Others include Madoff's wife, sons, brother and other relatives.
The list was compiled by AlixPartners LLP, a Dallas company hired as claims agent by the trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.
Madoff hasn't been indicted. He's being held under house arrest at his multimillion-dollar penthouse.