Madoff Firm was 'Piggy Bank' for Family, Trustee Says
An investment firm formerly run by convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff was essentially a “piggy bank” for personal expenses for him and his family, a trustee says in court papers.
Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC paid for country club memberships and salaries of family members and servants, reports Reuters. Plus, BLMIS provided corporate credit cards to several family members, even though they didn’t work for the firm, according to a filing yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan by trustee Irving Picard and an affidavit by an investigator.
The firm served as Madoff’s alter ego, “permitt[ing] Madoff, at his whim and desire, to engage in innumerable financial transactions wherein he essentially used BLMIS as his personal ‘piggy bank’ having BLMIS pay for his lavish lifestyle and that of his family,” writes Picard, who was appointed by the court to wind down the firm’s affairs.
Lawyers for Madoff and other family members either declined to comment or could not immediately be reached by the news agency. Although family members are alleged to have benefited from BLMIS funds, no one in his family other than Bernard Madoff has been accused of wrongdoing in his record-breaking $65 billion swindle of investors. He pleaded guilty in mid-March and is awaiting sentencing.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Letters to Court About Madoff Released; Many Writers Call for More Scrutiny”
