Meticulous Madoff Records Said to Aid Probe of High-Return Investors
At least eight investors and friends of Bernard Madoff are reportedly under a criminal investigation that seeks to learn whether they knew their high investment returns were part of a fraud.
Madoff’s “meticulous” record-keeping is aiding investigators for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports, citing people familiar with the probe. Among those under investigation are philanthropists Jeffry Picower and Stanley Chais, and Madoff’s 96-year-old friend Carl Shapiro, who helped Madoff start his investment firm, the story says.
Investigators reportedly have evidence they believe will show Picower and Chais told Madoff how much they wanted in returns and their accounts then reflected the amounts, the story says.
Lawyers for all three men say they were unaware of fraud by Madoff, who has pleaded guilty to running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
Madoff bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard has filed a suit seeking $5.1 billion against Picower, a lawyer who with his wife founded the educational philanthropy known as the Picower Foundation. Picard’s suit claims one of Jeffry Picower’s accounts with Madoff had an annual profit in 1999 of more than 950 percent, and the high returns were a form of compensation for perpetuating the Ponzi scheme.
Picard claims both Picower and Chais withdrew more than $6 billion in profits above and beyond the principal they deposited for themselves and others, according to the Wall Street Journal story.
