Sources Implicate Madoff's Wife

[sabra]

Source: CBS News

They Indicate She May Have Been Involved In His Mega-Ponzi Scheme

(CBS) While Bernie Madoff has been making headlines for his $50 billion Ponzi scheme, his wife, Ruth Madoff, has managed to avoid much of the harsh glare of the public spotlight -- until now.

CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports that CBS News contributor Lucinda Franks gained access to some of the posh Palm Beach, Fla. elite close to the Madoffs for a piece in The Daily Beast.com, and says she learned that Ruth may have been involved in her husband's admitted Ponzi scheme.

“Ruth Madoff has more than one face,” Franks says. "One of my sources knew a woman who was bemoaning the fact that she couldn't get into Bernie's funds. ... Ruth told her, 'Call him. You can get into the fund.' So she called Bernie, and said, 'Ruth told me I should mention her name.' And Bernie said, 'You're in. How much do you want to invest?" '

Another apparent victim of Madoff's scheme: his own sister, 74-year-old sister Sondra Wiener.

"Now," Franks observes, "my sources say, she is watering plants and driving people to the airport to make ends meet."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/06/earlyshow/main4921891.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories

[benld74]

1. I thought I had read the SEC was after her back in the 80's? T or F?

[TheEuclideanOne]

2. Is it true that you "thought your read that the SEC was after her in the 80s"?

I am going with true. Based on your question, it definitely sounds like you thought you read an article about that.

Whether the SEC actually was after her.... I have no clue.

[soothsayer]

6. I think that was Madoff's mom, in the 70's maybe

[leveymg]

7. SEC cited his mother, Sylvia Madoff, for unlicensed trading in 1964. All in the Family, they say.

This from Mrs Panstreppon's Blog at TPM, which is turning out to be a most valuable resource: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/mrs_panstreppon

Bernie Madoff: How Long Has This Been Goin' On?
March 27, 2009, 11:34AM


Your friends with their fancy persuasions won't admit that they're part of a scheme But I can't help but have my suspicions 'cause I ain't quite as dumb as I seem...

These corporate registrations raise some questions about how Bernie's business operated over the years.

This week, Bernie's former messenger, William Nasi, told us that Bernie's father, Ralph, a former plumber, and his mother, Sylvia, got into the investment business in the '50s. Sylvia Madoff was cited by the SEC in 1964 for failing to renew her brokerage license. At the time she was doing business as Gibraltar Securities which does not appear to have been registered with New York Secretary of State. But two other corporate registrations raise the possibility she registered the company elsewhere.

Gibraltar Securities Co.(Inc.) was registered in New Jersey in 1968 and Gibraltar Securities of Florida Inc. was registered in Florida in 1970. Unfortunately, the names of the officers and directors are not available.

Saul Alpern, Ruth Madoff's father and an accountant, helped Bernie get the investment business started in the early '60s. After he moved to Florida, Alpern apparently continued in the investment business when, at the age of 80, he registered Onondaga Investment Co., Clinton Investment Co. and Sheraton Investment Corp. in 1984. His business partner was Bruce M. Stiglitz, an L.A. tax attorney who specialized in the movie industry.

Did Saul Alpern put the investment companies together or was he a front for Bernie or someone else?

Cohn, Delaire & Madoff, Inc. at 1 East 57th St., NYC, was registered in New York State on 6/6/1986 and dissolved by proclamation on 6/24/1992. The "Cohn" is almost certainly Maurice Jay Cohn, a long-time business associate of Bernie's who owns a piece of Cohmad Securities. Alvin Delaire is a long-time associate of both Cohn and Madoff who works for Cohmad.

The date of the Cohn, Delaire & Madoff dissolution is significant because within three months of the dissolution, the SEC opened an official investigation into Avellino & Bienes for selling more than $440 million in unregistered securities funneled to Bernie. At the same time, Steven Mendelow and Edward Glantz were also investigated for selling $88 million in unregistered securities funneled from their firm, Telfran Associates Ltd. to Bernie.

If Cohn, Delaire & Madoff was another feeder fund or in some other way linked to the investment scheme, it may have been shut down in anticipation of the SEC investigation. If that is true, Maurice Cohn and Alvin Delaire would appear to be more directly involved in the scheme than previously known.

On 12/4/2000, Bernard L. Madoff Securities LLC was registered in New York and Shana Madoff was listed as the contact. Previously, the company had been Bernard L. Madoff, a sole proprietorship. On 12/21/2000, Madoff Brokerage & Trading Technologies LLC was also registered and Peter Madoff was listed as the contact.

At the same time, Bernie personally loaned $37 million to his London company, Madofff International Securities Ltd., moved to a bigger office and increased the staff to about 30 employees. A year later, he loaned another $25 million to MISL.

On paper, it looks like Bernie Madoff restructured and expanded the scope of his operations in late 2000, a theory that is reinforced by yesterday's news that the London company appears to be involved in the fraud.



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[Warpy]

3. The woman could smell money

and she's the one who brought the clients to him.

I think the money Bernie bled off the enterprise is in her hands and in the hands of the Madoff offspring.

[global1]

4. Watering Plants And Driving People To The Airport To Make Ends Meet?.......

So does that mean she opened a "Landscaping" and "Limo" service? Or is she just becoming like the rest of us and doing things for herself instead of having servants?

[Baby Snooks]

8. Sounds like she's just like the rest of us...

Like the rest of us who woke up one morning and found there was nothing in the checking account that is. But unlike the rest of us at least she will get something back - at least it appears she will.

No doubt her friends have told her she "should have known better" and "should have handled her own money" instead of trusting someone else. If you can't trust your own brother who can you trust? I guess the "moral of the story" is you can't trust anyone.

As for Ruth Madoff who knows what she did or didn't know - I doubt anyone can prove it either way but the US Attorney's Office apparently can prove which of "their" assets were obtained with funds he obtained through fraud and I suspect at some point Ruth Madoff is going to wake up and find there is nothing in her checking account. But she will not be getting something back.

[KT2000]

5. bet she was the brains

behind the scheme in the first place. She was the one with the financial background when they first started out.