Last Update: January 27, 2010 -
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 BLOG ISSUES SPOTLIGHT
HEY SIPC! SO WHAT IS INSURANCE ANYWAY?!! Ron Stein March 4, 2010 So let’s start getting to the meat of the issue: investor protection. Not just Madoff investors, Stanford investors, Petters investors. All investors. Which brings us to the issues of insurance, which the Trustee and SIPC spend enormous time asserting is not the case with SIPC protection. Aside from the probable fact that 99 out of 100 investors who have heard the letters “SIPC” before would put the words “SIPC” and “insurance” together, it is, by any definition, insurance. Lousy insurance, to be sure. Misrepresented insurance, certainly. Not insurance of the FDIC variety, okay. But I’ll go further. Let’s put aside the fact that millions of investors have been led to believe that SIPC is insurance; put aside as it has been asserted in various briefs that government institutions such as the SEC, FINRA – the entity that audits and regulates broker-dealers, court cases, heck, even President Nixon in his short speech when signing the bill into law called, and even continue to call it (though not Nixon) insurance. For SIPC to continue to assert that it is not insurance is akin to Bernie Madoff now insisting that he ran an honest operation. Read Full Post
ON JUDGE LIFLAND, NOT SO GREAT EXPECTATIONS, "CRAZY HE CALLS ME" AND STUCK IN SIPC Ron Stein February 15, 2010 As Madoff victims hang on tenterhooks awaiting Judge Lifland’s decision on “net equity”, I thought it to be a good time for some modest ruminations. For those of you too confused on this (or have spent too long in a cave) it boils down to this: are Madoff investors entitled to SIPC protection based on the values reflected on their final accounts and confirmation or on some arithmetic calculation that dismisses any validity to the investment statmenet . To those who care – and most everyone should – don’t get your hopes up, I’m sorry to say. But it’s also not a slam dunk for the Trustee, either. Read Full Post
WINDS OF CHANGE Part One – The SEC-Madoff Scandal Ron Stein September 26, 2009 Stunned! So here we are a few weeks after the release of the stunning Kotz report. No less than six times, from 1992 on, the SEC flubbed its examination of Madoff. Reading the original Executive Summary left me in disbelief. Reading the actual document has been shocking. The bungling is so comprehensive and confounding it’s akin to a Keystone Cops reel. Read Full Post
Ron Stein July 23rd, 2009 Finally. Some Madoff victims are starting to see IRS refunds, and some really lucky folks are even starting to receive their SIPC claim payments. So it stands to reason that if you’ve got a valid IRS and/or SIPC claim you, too, will be receiving perhaps a substantial refund. If not, chances are that you’re looking to protect what you still have. Most folks have already given some thought about these funds, yet many are wondering what to do? Read Full Post
Meet The Pros - The First in a Series of Interviews Battling Giants - An attorney takes on the SEC... Ron Stein June 9th, 2009 Howard R. Elisofon, partner in the New York law firm Herrick, Feinstein LLP is the securities attorney known most recently for his willingness to go after the SEC. Representing Madoff victim Phyllis Molchatsky and several others in this action, Elisofon has spoken at great length about his efforts in this case, and has been interviewed on many broadcasts and been quoted extensively in the press about this action and other issues pertinent to Madoff victims. We’re fortunate to have an opportunity to get some insight as to what motivates an attorney to take on the US government, and how. Read On-Line Interview
ALERT: Tax Refunds Coming – 30 Days and Counting! Are you ready? Part of a series of articles on planning and safe investing… Ron Stein May 7th, 2009 Yes, friends, thanks to Mr. Shulman and Company at the Internal Revenue Service, your tax refunds will be coming any day. We’ve heard that several have already received their refunds, and our communications with Internal Revenue confirmed the IRS’ intention to make sure that they complied with the 45 day timeframe normally allotted. This is great news! Question…What are you planning to do with your refund? Read Full Post
DEAR IRVING – WILL THE REAL IRVING PICARD PLEASE STAND UP? A FANTASY LETTER…. Ron Stein May 2nd, 2009 April 30, 2009
BEYOND THE IRS – A PONZI PUNCHLIST FOR CHANGE! Ron Stein April 9th, 2009 Clearly, the IRS has chosen to offer a mostly beneficial, practical, and also self-serving avenue for Madoff and other Ponzi fraud victims. With their recent “Safe Harbor” revenue and procedure rulings, they’ve made life easier for a fair number of anxious victims. Unfortunately, while many victims will receive some restitution through IRS refunds in addition to SIPC claims, many others will receive little or none at all. Read Full Post
Madoff Justice? Not by a Long Shot! Ron Stein March 12th, 2009 “OK” you’re saying. “Madoff is going to jail. How does that help me?” Unless you get some kind of bizarre satisfaction that penthouse living for several months followed by less-than-gruesome jail-time is sufficient punishment for maiming the lives of thousands of unsuspecting victims, you’re not jumping for joy. I’m sure not. “Is justice being served?” the media asks. I say “No, justice is not served until justice is done.” And justice cannot be done until a broad effort is made to restore to normal the lives of so many devastated by this, history’s greatest swindle. Read Full Post
A Place to Start: Six Steps to Sanity Ron Stein February 23rd, 2009 Being a Madoff Victim is not a pleasant place to be. It’s a nasty situation, and it can feel like a lonely and confusing one as well. With lives turned upside down, many folks are wondering what to do and anxious about the future. People are looking for help, for information, for support. If you’re one of these, you’ve come to a good place. Welcome to the community of Madoff Help – we’ll try to provide insight, clarity, and even a bit of humor. You’re not alone anymore. Read Full Post
GRANT ME THE SERENITY: Helpful Words for Challenging Times
Bobbie Comforto, LCSW, CT, February 12th, 2009 No one wants to hear that loss, change and suffering are inevitable… No one wants to be reminded that life is a series of losses, small & large, starting from birth & ending in death… No one wants to realize that we all suffer loss & change in one way or another. Yet behind every door is someone adjusting to change, adapting to crisis or coping with unsettling loss or tragedies. READ FULL POST |
Senator Schumers proposal on tax relief for Madoff victims is making its way thru the legislative process. The proposal is still in draft mode and is being reviewed with the Joint Committee on Taxation. The expectation at this time is that the bill will be introduced before the Senate Easter recess, and is expected to have the support of at least 20 co-sponsors. Click here to read the original press release on the proposal. The Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC”) decided to investigate Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme at least six times over two decades. The SEC unquestionably had discretion as to whether or not to initiate those ivestigations, and would be immune to any claim that it should have—or should not have—investigated Madoff on those or Victims of Bernard Madoff and accused Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford are banding together to lobby Congress for a law that could require Wall Street firms to pay billions of dollars to cover some of the losses they suffered. Read Bloomberg article here. In this video, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart interviews Harry Markopolos about his new book and his unsuccessful efforts to blow the whistle on Bernie Madoff.
The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Bernard Madoff’s defunct business is allowing investors to immediately appeal his order that lets the liquidator reject years’ worth of fake profit from the fraud when calculating victims’ claims for repayment. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland in Manhattan certified his order today, allowing an appeal. His decision, made at the request of both sides, means the victims won’t have to wait until trustee Irving Picard denies a claim and won’t have to first appeal to the federal district court. The appeal will go immediately to the U.S. appeals court in New York. The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that a federal judge’s decision in the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy case could force Brandeis donor Carl Shapiro to return a portion of the $1 billion in profit from investments with Madoff. United States Bankruptcy Judge Burton R. Lifland ruled that Madoff’s victims can only claim the amount they first invested with the Ponzi-scheme’s organizer, minus any funds they withdrew over the years. Read article on the Breandeis Hoot here. Harry Markopolos’ book “No One Would Listen” is full of details about his dispiriting efforts to alert the authorities to Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion fraud. But a parallel theme is perhaps equally interesting: his account of how he has made a career as what is best described as a professional whistleblower facilitator. A Luxembourg court ruled on Thursday that investors who lost money to Bernard L. Madoff through a fund set up by UBS cannot seek compensation directly from the Swiss bank, Reuters reported. Read NY Times article here. A court ruling on Thursday is likely to mean UBS (UBSN.VX)(UBS.N) avoids direct compensation claims from investors who lost money to fraudster Bernard Madoff in a fund the Swiss bank had set up, and may save HSBC (HSBA.L)(0005.HK) from similar suits. Read Reuters article here. On Thursday, a three-judge panel of Fifth Circuit judges heard oral argument regarding the insurance coverage dispute concerning R. Allen Stanford and three other Stanford Financial Group employees. The dispute involves the advancement of defense costs to Stanford Financial directors and officers. Read Securities Docket report here. |
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