Filed under: People There was some doubt headed into Saturday’s auction of Bernard Madoff’s belongings. Strong interest was anticipated , though many thought the public was tired of the Madoff saga. The asking prices for his (former) Manhattan and Palm Beach homes had just been cut by 10% and 7%, respectively. Presale estimates were kept to reasonable levels. Simply, everything was priced to move. When the gavel came down for the last time, though, expectations were shattered. The personal effects that once belonged to the architect of the world’s largest Ponzi scheme fetched as much as 20 times the presale estimates. It looks like bidders will always shell out for even small pieces of sordid history . Continue reading The Madoff auction take shows Bernie-mania is hardly waning The Madoff auction take shows Bernie-mania is hardly waning originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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The Madoff auction take shows Bernie-mania is hardly waning

Filed under: People Not all the people who donate to presidential campaigns are good. This fact comes to mind as we find out more about one of George W. Bush’s big campaign donors — a pleasant fellow named Scott Rothstein. Of course, he had plenty of company in goosing Bush’s campaign coffers — recall subprime mortgage lender Ameriquest, which contributed a mere $7.8 million . But that’s old news. Bloomberg News reports that Rothstein is a lawyer who persuaded investors to give him $1 billion, in exchange for which they allegedly got a chance to earn a share of what Rothstein promised would be big legal settlements just a few months after those investors’ checks cleared. Apparently, it was a yet another Ponzi scheme — the legal settlements didn’t exist. Federal authorities have sued Rothstein, but he hasn’t yet been charged with any crime. Continue reading A George W. Bush fundraiser is now embroiled in an alleged $1 billion scam A George W. Bush fundraiser is now embroiled in an alleged $1 billion scam originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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A George W. Bush fundraiser is now embroiled in an alleged $1 billion scam

Filed under: People , Investing Frank DiPascali, the former Chief Financial Officer for Bernard Madoff, pleaded guilty today in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan before Judge Richard Sullivan. I reported on this expected plea last week. He’s hoping for leniency, but is facing a maximum of 125 years on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, investment adviser fraud, two counts of falsifying the books of a broker dealer, international money laundering, perjury and federal income tax evasion. DiPascali was released on a $2.5 million bond secured by his sister’s home. U.S. Attorney Marc Litt asked the court to schedule DiPascali’s sentencing in May of next year. How well he cooperates with the government case will impact the length of his jail term. Continue reading Madoff employee Frank DiPascali pleads guilty, says it was ‘all fake’ Madoff employee Frank DiPascali pleads guilty, says it was ‘all fake’ originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Madoff employee Frank DiPascali pleads guilty, says it was ‘all fake’