The Long Island beach home formerly owned by the infamous Bernard Madoff has sold for $9.41 million and the money will go to a fund that will help defrauded investors to get back on their feet. Madoff was convicted of orchestrating an enormous multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme and will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Although the sale of the house was announced a month ago, neither the identity of the buyers nor the price of the home was released. A statement made by the U.S. Marshals Service, which is in charge of the Department of Justice’s criminal forfeiture …read more

Edward May, a 73-year-old resident of Michigan, has been indicted in a ponzi scheme that has been valued at around $200 million. He faces nearly 60 counts of mail fraud — each of which is a felony that calls for up to 20 years in prison. So theoretically, May faces up to 1,200 years in prison.
“Today’s charges allege a financial fraud and abuse of trust on a massive scale,” said Terrence Berg, U.S. Attorney. “Managers of investor funds owe a high duty to those who trust them to steward their savings with care and integrity. If they abuse their customers’ …read more

R. Allen Stanford, the Texas businessman and con artist accused of orchestrating a massive $7 billion Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors out of their money, is still hospitalized following a fight in a federal detention facility in Conroe. Stanford was hospitalized for what were described as minor injuries.
 
According to a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman, Stanford could be back in jail as soon as Monday. The fight occurred at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the Joe Corley Detention Facility and officials have not yet released why the fight started. Only Stanford was taken to the hospital, while the other …read more

Following in the shameful footsteps of criminals like Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford, a Brooklyn money manager was arrested today and charged with running a $40 million classic Ponzi scheme. Among those affected are many retirees, several of them losing their life savings to the scheme that Philip Barry has run since the 1970s.
 
Officials in charge of investigating the case have revealed that Barry originally tried to invest the money legitimately, putting some of it into real estate investments that never became profitable and some into the pornography industry. Since then, Barry conned hundreds of people into giving them …read more

In news that will undoubtedly cause victims of Bernard Madoff’s massive $150 billion Ponzi scheme to become outraged, an new report by the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the SEC received six tips in the sixteen years leading up to Madoff’s confession concerning his scam. However, the SEC’s report alleges that the agency mishandled the inquiries and ignored several key factors in exposing Madoff’s guilt.
 
The SEC recently released a 450-page report that revealed the SEC’s knowledge of Madoff’s “lies and misrepresentations” dating all the way back to 1992. However, the report also revealed that the SEC failed in its …read more

According to R. Allen Stanford’s lawyer, the man accused of orchestrating a massive $7 billion Ponzi scheme is still in the hospital undergoing tests related to a rapid heartbeat. The 59-year-old Texan has been held in custody since mid-June and was released to head to the hospital when his heart rate shot up to 300 beats per minute.
 
Today marks Stanford’s third day of hospitalization due to, as his lawyer claims, the prison not allowing Stanford, who suffers from high blood pressure, access to the medication he requires. He will undergo a test that will measure blood flow into his heart.
 
Nobody …read more

Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford was recently accused of fraud through the creation of an enormous Ponzi scheme and despite his best attempts, he will remain in jail until his Texas trial. Stanford attempted to appeal the ruling that would have him stay in jail, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has upheld a ruling that classifies Stanford as a flight risk.
 
Along with four executives of the now-defunct Stanford Financial Group, Stanford has been accused of collecting billions of dollars of investors’ money, paying off investors with the money collected from other victims, and then …read more

Finance world layoffs.

Bernie Madoff has lessons to teach us.

On Thursday, several Latin American clients of Stanford Financial Group filed suit against insurance broker Willis Group Holding Ltd. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Dallas, contends that Willis Group was a willing and knowing participant aiding in the $7 billion fraud by Stanford.
The group of investors are seeking more than $1 billion in damages. Stanford founder, Texas tycoon Allen Stanford and several others are facing criminal and civil charges for the $7 billion ponzi scheme.
Willis actions “crossed the line from the role of insurance brokers, to acting as sales agents for Stanford Financial,” lawyers for the …read more