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Bernie Madoff

Galleon's Rajaratnam strikes back, calls SEC tactics unconstitutional

By Vishesh Kumar | Nov 24th 2009, 2:00PM EST Filed Under: People, Investing

Billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam had vowed to fight the insider trading charges against him with the same vigor he used to amass his fortune. And now his army of seasoned lawyers is swinging back hard against allegations that the founder of the Galleon Group engaged in insider trading in stocks ranging from Google (GOOG) to Hilton (HLNQ).

On Tuesday, Rajaratnam's legal team responded...

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Daily Blogwatch: Five more media deals that should happen in 2010

By James Altucher | Nov 18th 2009, 8:20AM EST Filed Under: Company News, Technology, Columns, Economy, Investing, Media

Do art and stocks perform the same?

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Is 10% unemployment good or bad for the stock market?

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PaidContent has five media deals that could happen in 2010.

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Investors, beware: Audits won't protect you from the likes of Madoff

By Tracy Coenen | Nov 14th 2009, 10:00AM EST Filed Under: People, Investing

Last week, David Friehling, the auditor who had purportedly handled Bernie Madoff's books for years, pleaded guilty to nine charges having to with his auditing work, or lack thereof. The charges included securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, false filings with the SEC and obstructing or impeding tax laws. Pointedly, the accountant denied knowing anything about Madoff's Ponzi scheme that cost investors billions.

Friehling operated Friehling & Horowitz, CPA's, P.C. as a solo practitioner and audited Bernard L. Madoff' Investment Securities from 1991 through 2008. Madoff paid Friehling a whopping $12,000 to $14,500 per month for auditing services from 2004 to 2007. Yet...

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Two more arrests in Madoff saga

By Tom Johansmeyer | Nov 13th 2009, 6:20PM EST Filed Under: Scandals

Normal tech support phone call: "Press 1 for help with e-mail. Press 2 to have your password reset."

Madoff tech support phone call: "Hello, how can I help you dummy up some trading records today?"

The investigation of Bernie Madoff's fraudulent financial empire is leading to more arrests. Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers employed by the Ponzi schemer, were arrested by the FBI on Friday morning. The charges include conspiracy for falsifying books and records. They are accused of

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Madoff computer programmers arrested; could face 30 years in $60B fraud

By Sam Gustin | Nov 13th 2009, 6:15PM EST Filed Under: People

Federal authorities arrested two computer programmers who worked for convicted Ponzi patriarch Bernie Madoff (pictured), charging them with several criminal counts for their alleged role in the massive $60 billion scam. George Perez and Jerome O'Hara appeared in federal court Friday and faced charges of conspiracy, falsifying books and records of a broker dealer, and falsifying books and records of an investment adviser. The pair worked in Madoff's secretive 17th floor office at the Lipstick building, where the fraud was orchestrated.

"Jerome...

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Madoff's victims: Justice may take an eternity (or 150 years, give or take)

By Jonathan Berr | Nov 11th 2009, 12:20PM EST Filed Under: People, Investing, Media

In the wake of news that Bernard Madoff's associate and pal Jeffrey Picower (pictured) was found dead in his Palm Beach swimming pool last month, the revelation that Picower had left his wife Barbara $200 million and appointed her to head a charitable foundation funded with his estate's assets from his estate won't satisfy any Madoff victims' lust for vengeance. Nor, most likely, will the strange detail that Madoff's 17 Rolex watches are heading to the auction block on Saturday.

Picower's attorney denies claims by court-appointed bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard that Picower...

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Madoff associate Picower wills bulk of fortune to charity

By AP | Nov 10th 2009, 2:44PM EST Filed Under: People

A man who made billions of dollars off Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme signed a will leaving the bulk of his fortune to charity, but the gift's ultimate size may depend on legal wrangling over how much of the money rightfully belongs to cheated victims.

Jeffry Picower, 67, a prominent philanthropist, drowned after suffering a heart attack in the swimming pool of his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion on Oct. 25.

Unlike some other Madoff investors, he died a rich man. The trustee unraveling Madoff's financial web said Picower withdrew some $7 billion from his Madoff accounts over the decades - well more than he invested.

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Friehling: Another Madoff domino falls

By Tom Johansmeyer | Nov 4th 2009, 12:20PM EST Filed Under: Insiders, Law, Scandals

Another player in the Bernie Madoff saga has fallen. His longtime auditor, David Friehling, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to charges of securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, making false filings with the SEC, and obstructing or impeding the administration of the Internal Revenue laws (among others).

Despite the plea, Friehling still told U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, "At no time was I ever aware Bernard Madoff was engaged in a Ponzi sche...

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Madoff accountant pleads guilty in Ponzi scheme, but will he sing?

By Lita Epstein | Nov 3rd 2009, 12:15PM EST Filed Under: People, Investing

Bernard Madoff's former accountant David Friehling pleaded guilty Tuesday, according to a report from the Associated Press. Will he stay silent like Madoff or will he spill his guts to minimize his jail time?

Friehling (pictured) was the longtime auditor for Madoff, and was the first person charged after his boss in the epic Ponzi scheme, but so far, he appears to be keeping silent. Friehling pleaded guilty to charges that are punishable by up to 108 years in prison. It is unclear whether he plans to expose what he knows in a bid to get leniency and a reduction of his jail time.

Frank DiPascali, the former chief financial officer...

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Bernie Madoff 'astonished' Feds flunked 'accounting 101' and missed his fraud

By Sam Gustin | Oct 31st 2009, 9:45AM EST Filed Under: People

It wasn't enough for felonious Ponzi patriarch Bernard Madoff to bilk his clients of over $60 billion in assets. Now, the jailbird stock swindler is trash-talking about the very federal authorities who should have caught him and stopped the largest financial scam in history. In a jailhouse interview released late Friday by H. David Kotz, the Securities & Exchange Commission's inspector-general, Madoff disses SEC investigators as bumbling bureaucrats and says he was "astonished" that no one caught him earlier.

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