The names of several thousand clients who lost money investing with Bernard Madoff have been released in a New York City court filing. Bernie's list of victims is overwhelmingly Jewish. The list has over 13,000 accounts on it. It's my understanding you can find a lot of luxury items for sale in Palm Beach at bargain prices. I'm surprised this guy hasn't been shot.
Click here to see the list.
His potential victims are so numerous, so high-profile and the sums he apparently stole so vast, the financial analyst who blew the whistle on Madoff says he expected a bullet or worse for his trouble. "If he found out we were tracking him, I did not think I was long for this world," said Harry Markolpolis.
The riveting testimony came on Capitol Hill as a seemingly endless list of victims was released in a court filing in New York.
The 162-page list of big money names includes Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax and developer Larry Silverstein, along with the merely wealthy and thousands of others who hoped Madoff would help them become that way. The names come from all corners of the country and beyond -- Florida, California, and plenty from New York. They include big businesses that might have known better, like Citi Corp., Cablevision, and Bank of America.
There was clean money apparently mixing with dirty money funneled into Madoff Securities through off-shore accounts. "When you're that big and that secretive you're going to get money from criminals like the Russian Mob and the drug cartels," said Markopolis.
Markopolis tried to blow the whistle on Madoff eight years ago and told the House Financial Service subcommittee, but no one in the government seemed interested.
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 LLC. It contains about 13,000 names, including at least six Madoffs and even Bernie Madoff's own attorney.
Authorities say Madoff admits he lost more than $50 billion belonging to investors. Defense lawyers say he has cooperated with authorities to help identify assets.
