Madoff Attorneys Hand Over List Of Assets

Investigators Hope To Find Money For Victims Of Wall Street Investor's Alleged $50B Swindle

(CBS/AP)  Authorities in New York are one step closer to finding out what happened to the $50 billion that disgraced Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff is accused of swindling from investors.

Madoff's lawyers today provided regulators with a list of his personal assets, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.

An attorney for Madoff said he would give the Securities and Exchange Commission the list by by 5 p.m. EST Wednesday to comply with a court order.

The list will provide an account of property that could eventually be tapped to make restitution to victims of what authorities say was a massive Ponzi scheme.

The SEC declined to comment on whether it received the list or would eventually disclose its contents to the public.

But at least one law firm is considering petitioning to make that list public, Keteyian reports.

Madoff's personal wealth is said to be substantial. He had mansions in the Hamptons and Palm Beach, Fla., a penthouse in Manhattan and a handful of luxury yachts. His firm operated proprietary stock trading desks in New York and London that were supposedly investing the family's vast fortune.

Still, those assets would likely cover only a fraction of the billions of dollars that investors entrusted to Madoff.

Law firms representing Madoff's clients said they were nonetheless still eager to see what might be available to repay victims.

"Like everyone else, we expect it to be made public," said attorney Matthew Gluck, a partner at Milberg LLP. Gluck added that if the SEC refuses to disclose the documents, his law firm would consider other steps to obtain the information.

Madoff's lawyer, Ira Lee Sorkin, said his client would comply with the court order Wednesday, but provided no additional details on the contents of the asset disclosure.

On Monday, a top SEC official is set to face a Congressional panel investigating the scandal.

The House Financial Services Committee, which is preparing for the most substantial rewrite of laws governing U.S. financial markets since the Great Depression, is scheduled to take testimony from SEC inspector general H. David Kotz.

A major focus of the hearing will be the inability of the SEC to unearth the scandal, said Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., who will chair the hearing. The SEC has come under criticism for not fully investigating fraud allegations against Madoff's investment firm. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has acknowledged that there were multiple failures by agency staff during previous inquiries.

"Sadly, Mr. Madoff's actions have further weakened the already-battered investor confidence in our securities markets," Kanjorski said in a statement. "We can, however, better understand how to reform the U.S. financial system by carefully examining this Ponzi scheme."

Madoff, 70, a former Nasdaq stock market chairman, is accused of running a scheme that paid fictitious returns to certain investors out of the principal received from others. Madoff remains under house arrest in his apartment in New York as part of an earlier bail agreement.

[hsinco-2009]

Well, this is just another fine neocon mess isn''''t it at least it is mostly rich that will suffer.

Posted by antoniof123 at 01:52 PM : Dec 31, 2008

Actually, many charities and foundations were wiped out from Madoff.

[otrama]

Madoff is also smiling because he has so significantly and so consistently given money to Democrats who are moving into almost total control of the government.

The Dems and the Repubs are both playing you. This rivalry that they have created in the public arena as evidenced by the comments here only make them laugh at our foolishness.

Wake up, there is no established left or right anymore so quit insulting each other and start making some real change.
Rally together and create a viable 3rd party.

[stinginrich]

Imagine.....a World not based on scarcety, money, laws, or antequated superstitions and religions, but technology, where every person''s needs are provided free of any charge or service, no hunger or disease, no wars, abundant, free, naturally occuring and pollution-free green energy, for all the Planets people, who could then be truly free to advance and evolve to our ultimate potential.....
This technology exists today, right now.....

http://www.thevenusproject.com/

[lordsuntzu]

urge ALL Dullards and Mouth-Breathing Droolers to watch the video and LEARN how you have been scammed.
You will never feel the same way about your Government or Monetary System again.
(Unless you''''re are just Too Damnn Stupid to wise up, of course)......





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by stinginrich at 02:36 PM : Dec 31, 2008
+ report abuse


*************

did you.......................wised up?

[stinginrich]

Wake up, Dullards, you''ve been scammed.
Our Monetary System is nothing but a Giant Ponzi Scheme designed to keep you enslaved for life.
Go to:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d
ocid=7065205277695921912

I urge ALL Dullards and Mouth-Breathing Droolers to watch the video and LEARN how you have been scammed.
You will never feel the same way about your Government or Monetary System again.
(Unless you''re are just Too Damnn Stupid to wise up, of course)......

[glenn_lewis]

NOW THAT THE FEDS HAVE GOTTEN MADOFF, I UNDERSTAND THEY ARE CLOSING IN ON HIS CHAUFFEUR!

[antoniof123]

Well, this is just another fine neocon mess isn''t it at least it is mostly rich that will suffer.

[zzy-izzy]

He knows where he money is that is the reason for the big smile

[jsutaguy]

Madoff still smiles in every photo, because he knows that
1. The Wall STreet lobbyists put laws on the books that limit the POSSIBLE jail time for his fraud to 7 years....3 years with parole...all done at a no fences "open prison" which has TV and internet access.
2. He is a distraction from the REAL CRIME which has already been committed: The 7.7 TRILLION DOLLARS that our "Government" has given to Wall Street:

You and I have now been told that we each, and each of our children, owe our Government 24,000$ each, for a total of 7.7 TRILLION DOLLARS given to Wall Street by our Government. http://tinyurl.com/96a7s4

Want to see where your tax dollars are going in this "bank bailout"? Check out the pix of the fourth and fifth homes owned by these Wall Street pukes:
http://tinyurl.com/5qf7cu

Now check out the parties you''ve paid for with your tax dollars:
http://tinyurl.com/562moo

[eggy1620]

Don''''t forget that our money is also fictitious. Federal Reserve Notes are nothing but ether. Posted by b4ucmyI

True. Your dollar is only worth as much as the next person is willing to labor for it. But then gold will have no value when the world discovers it cannot be eaten.

[navyjimfl]

we don''t have any idea of the damage this slug has done......a lot of the investments were for charities.......and I guess he was supposed to be a role model for his jewish faith

[walt1944-2009]

It has been announced that a list of Bernie Madoff''s personal US assets will be provided today.

It has been learned the list is a surprisingly short one. It includes:

1. His collection of Elvis CD''s and DVD''s.
2. His collection of OJ Simpson football cards.
3. An EMPTY storage shed in northern Michigan!
4. A television bought from a Goodwill store!
5. 2 tickets to Superbowl XXXXXXXXX!
6. An insurance policy expired in 1985!

It is expected that Madoff has sizeable assets hidden overseas, but knowing the stupidity of the SEC and the FBI at finding anything, Madoff is sure that he not only will evade jail time for fraud, but be able to enjoy the "good life" much as the CEO''s in corporate America are!

SIG HEIL, MADOFF IS A TRUE NEOCON "PATRIOT"!!!, BUSH!!!

[trigs_8]

Someone tell me why he is living at home? I can imagine him calling to hiding his money from our stupid regulators. The SEC is a sham! Put him in jail and have him post 50 billion dollars to get out!

[eggy1620]

The line about fictitious profits and losses with regard to Yeshiva University could also apply to the economy as a whole. The financial markets posted fictitious gains for years based on mortgages that were entered into based on fictitious information.

[hetup-2009]

Give it a rest, this is all money that people put up to gamble that they would make even more. Well they didn''t make more and they lost what they invested. Anyone who invests money knows it is gambling. Instead of playing cards it was stock names.

[hailstorm-harry]

This article says nothing about Madoff''s many offshore accounts and whether he has provided authorities with any information about them. The SEC also needs to be prosecuted for failing to do their job of regulating the industry and investigating the numerous complaints about this scammer over the years. Which tells me that the SEC was probably in on it.

[plutoboy]

The swindler should life in prison, and have to pay a 50b dollar fine.

[cbsblogger]

And Bernie Madoff the epitome of ethics and honesty is going to tell the truth? He has assets buried so deep that they are essentially not findable. His entire family needs to be imprisoned for life. They were all part of the scam.

[simplemind2]

Greed! Greed! Greed!

[whitewolf60]

Why don''t they just SEIZE his assets and pay back his victims??