Fees to Firms Referring Clients to Madoff Topped $790 Million

The Wall Street Journal - Firms that funneled investors' money to Bernard Madoff likely took in at least $790 million in fees over the years, according to a review of lawsuits and other documents emerging in the wake of Mr. Madoff's arrest.Now, investors and authorities are trying to get some of those dollars back, though how successful they will be remains unclear.

Banco Santander SA, one of the biggest of the "feeders" to Mr. Madoff, had some $3 billion with him through its Geneva-based hedge-fund group, Optimal Investment Services SA, according to the firm. Santander earned $52.7 million in 2007 and $43.3 million in 2006 in "investment manager's fees" from its Madoff-run Strategic U.S. Equity Series, according to a 2007 annual report.

Optimal's relationship with Mr. Madoff, which dated back more than a decade, was described in a 2008 internal report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal as a "very profitable business for the group." At the time, the firm collected an average management fee of "above 2%" on money placed with Mr. Madoff. Santander declined to comment.

Mr. Madoff pleaded guilty last month to perpetrating a massive Ponzi scheme. Many of his victims don't expect to recover anywhere near 100 cents on the dollar and are looking down all avenues for possible relief.

Madoff Client List Is Disclosed in Filing

The Wall Street Journal - The names of thousands of clients who invested money with Bernard Madoff were made public Wednesday -- including legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax and Mr. Madoff's own lawyer, Ira Sorkin, who is defending him on charges that he ran a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

The 162-page filing made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan doesn't list the amount each client invested.

Mr. Sorkin, who couldn't be reached for comment, previously denied investing with Mr. Madoff.

Some notable alleged victims appear on the list, including Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets baseball team. It's unclear how many of the clients listed had money at the firm at the time of Mr. Madoff's arrest on Dec. 11.

The list includes numerous accounts held by the firm's outside auditors, Jerome Horowitz and David Friehling. Also among the names listed are Mr. Madoff's family members, including his sons, Mark and Andrew, and his brother, Peter, as well as the employees who ran the investment-advisory arm of the firm, where the alleged fraud took place. The employees included JoAnne "Jodi" Crupi, and a company owned by the family of Frank DiPascali, who was a key member of Mr. Madoff's investment business.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123380673307551079.html?mod=testMod

F.B.I. and S.E.C. Probe Missing Fund Manager

The New York Times - The F.B.I. and securities regulators have joined the investigation of Arthur Nadel, a Florida hedge fund manager who disappeared four days ago, leaving clients concerned that they might have lost as much as $350 million.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are helping on the case, police Lt. Stanley Beishline of Sarasota, Fla., said in a telephone interview.

One of Mr. Nadel’s business partners, Neil Moody, said Mr. Nadel had spoken to his wife, Peg, since he was reported missing. Mr. Nadel, 76, is president of Scoop Management in Sarasota, which oversees funds that include Valhalla Investment Partners. Mr. Moody holds no position in Scoop Management and was a partner with Mr. Nadel only on the Vahalla fund and two Viking funds.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/business/19sec.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Big Madoff Investor Found Dead

Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, found with pills, box cutter nearby.

The Wall Street Journal - The co-founder of an investment advisory firm that lost $1.5 billion in the Madoff scandal was found dead Tuesday in an apparent suicide in his Manhattan office, police said.

Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, 65 years old, was pronounced dead about 8 a.m. New York City police said they believe the death to be a suicide but were awaiting results of an autopsy to be completed Wednesday.

Workers discovered Mr. de La Villehuchet's body about 7:30 Tuesday morning at the Madison Avenue offices of Access International Advisors, police said. Mr. de La Villehuchet had lacerations on his arms, and police found a box cutter nearby as well as a bottle of what appeared to be sleeping pills.

If the death was associated with Mr. Madoff's alleged fraud scheme, it will be the highest-profile tragedy yet in a case that has touched investors world-wide. Thousands of individuals, institutions and nonprofit organizations are struggling to assess the fallout of the alleged fraud. Mr. Madoff was charged with fraud after authorities said he told his sons the business was "a giant Ponzi scheme" and that he had potentially lost at least $50 billion.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123005864125030637.html

Hollywood casts business titans as villians

Michael Douglas stars as Gordon Gekko in 1990 hit movie "Wall Street." Hollywood now plans a new group of films and TV shows highlighting business excesses, including a sequel to Wall Street.
Hollywood has found its next bad guy.

Bloomberg News - Welcome back, Gordon Gekko.

Film and television studios are rushing to tap America's fixation with the financial crisis and anger at the Wall Street executives blamed for it.

News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox is making a sequel to Wall Street, where Michael Douglas's Gekko proclaimed, "Greed is good." NBC's Law & Order is building episodes around financial themes. The General Electric Co. division also is developing a one-hour series called Outrageous Behavior, a battle of the sexes set in Wall Street.

"Our development is tied to what is relevant in today's world," Teri Weinberg, NBC Entertainment's executive vice president overseeing comedy and drama programming, said in an e- mail. "We hope to exemplify the foolishness of the human condition in the world of finance."

Time Warner Inc. has slated Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy for 2009. The movie follows a reporter who uncovers corporate criminals by befriending the man who polishes their wingtips, according to IMDB.com Inc. The New York-based media company will release The Wolf of Wall Street in 2010, based on the autobiography of a stockbroker involved in a 1990s securities fraud, IMDB said.

"These films may be timed just right to take advantage of the wave of interest" in Wall Street and the economy, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers in Encino, Calif. "One of these movies may hope to be the next Wall Street."

As of Oct. 14, demand for the two-decade-old film at Netflix Inc., the mail-order movie service, had increased 11 percent since Sept. 1, according to Steve Swasey, a company spokesman.

The original Wall Street ends with police collecting evidence on Gekko for securities violations. The sequel follows the character after he emerges from prison, according to the trade magazine Variety. Douglas may reprise his role as Gekko, the magazine reported.

The rush to exploit the crisis may lead to films lacking nuance and depth of character, said Stanley Weiser, who co-wrote the original Wall Street and wrote W., the film about George W. Bush that opened on Oct. 17.