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    BLOG ISSUES SPOTLIGHT

     

    NIAP Blogs - Click Here

    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

     

    Banking On It

    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
    Mr. Irving Picard, Trustee
    Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities
    c/o Baker Hostetler
    45 Rockefeller Plaza
    New York, NY 10111

    Dear Irving:

    Thank you for your recent posting on your Trustee site. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from you, and it was reassuring that you took the time to provide some clarification to us. But you have us pretty confused right now, because we’re trying to fathom this back and forth behavior you seem to be showing – threatening one moment, playing nice the next.

    Speaking through attorney Mr. Hirshfield recently to the Wall Street Journal you announced your sending out of 223 “avoidance claim” clawback letters “seeking to get back all redemptions made by investors in the last six years.” Meanwhile, copies of the clawback letters began to circulate, letters that were cold, direct, and challenging. You could have prefaced the letters with words like “Dear Investor – we have reason to think that you may have taken out more money than you put in, and we’d like to discuss the situation with you.” Instead, regarding monies that an investor might have withdrawn, you preferred language like “the Trustee demands [emphasis mine] that you immediately return such amounts.…” Cold, cold, cold. Read Full Post

     

    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
    Inspiration from top grief specialist & therapist

    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

    Alert:

    Second Circuit Rules on case against the SEC.
    Dean Lawrence Velvel – “In my judgment, the opinion opens the door to wholesale abuse of regulatory powers whenever an agency wishes not to exercise power given it by Congress, regardless of how terrible the agency’s inaction may be. Now more than ever, Congress must act to correct the grievous injustice, since the courts won’t. I think that Congress should also denounce this opinion as a terrible deformation of congressional intent. It permits regulatory bodies to eviscerate Congress’ purposes at their discretion. Congress never intended discretion of that magnitude. (Did it intend, for instance, for the FBI to have the discretion not to investigate murders?). You will note that the court gives no specific reasons whatever as to why the plaintiffs allegedly fell short in showing that the SEC lacked justification for failing to act against Madoff (yet the court expressed “antipathy” for the SEC’s conduct). It is plain that the court could give no reasons justifying the failure (because there were none), and that it simply blinked when it came to holding a major governmental body liable for horrific misconduct — and thereby, as indicated, vitiated Congress’ purposes and opened the door to a wholesale screwing of citizens by agencies. As said, Congress should both denounce this and act against it.”

    Click here for a copy of the opinion.
    Click here for the amicus brief filed by NIAP.

    SourcedFrom Sourced from: Network For Investor Action & Protection

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    April 11, 2013, 10:37 am MST | Category: Madoff News |

    ALERT:

    Attorneys representing those with interests in accord with NIAP have submitted a reply brief in Bankruptcy Court arguing against the Trustee’s assertion that inflation adjustments to net equity would be too time consuming and expensive to commence. For innocent investors in Madoff, NIAP emphatically asserts the use of final account statements for the SIPC valuations of Net Equity, and in all cases when the names of real securities and realistic valuations are depicted on their statements. Barring a final account statement methodology, however, applying an appropriate opportunity cost valuation to investor’s accounts is a far superior alternative than the straight cash-in-cash-out method employed thus far by SIPC and the Trustee. Click here for reply brief.” rel=”external”>Click here for reply brief.

    SourcedFrom Sourced from: Network For Investor Action & Protection

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    May 6, 2013, 6:02 am MST | Category: Madoff News |

    Stockholder Power Faces Test at JPMorgan

    Jamie Dimon and the 10 other directors of JPMorgan Chase take the stage in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, to face shareholders who can take comfort in a rising stock price and a prospering bank. But those same shareholders may also deliver a humbling rebuff to Mr. Dimon and the bank’s board. If shareholders vote to separate the jobs of chairman and chief executive — positions that Mr. Dimon has held since 2006 — it would signal a shift in the balance of power in corporate America, an inflection point in shareholders’ push for greater say in the boardroom. Shareholder protests at large companies are usually successful only at those that are troubled or whose stock price has disappointed. More in the New York Times here.

    SourcedFrom Sourced from: Network For Investor Action & Protection

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    May 20, 2013, 11:18 am MST | Category: Other Frauds, Ponzi Fraud |

    Bernie Madoff tormented by son’s suicide

    The Ponzi monster is now tormented by his own demons. In an interview from prison, Bernie Madoff said he’ll be forever haunted by the suicide of his oldest son, and he can’t sleep at night because he blames himself for the 2010 tragedy. “I was responsible for my son Mark’s death, and that’s very, very difficult,” he told CNNMoney in a telephone interview published online yesterday. “I live with that. I live with the remorse, the pain I caused everybody, certainly my family, and the victims.” Mark Madoff, 46, hanged himself with a dog leash inside his Soho apartment on the second anniversary of his disgraced dad’s arrest. More in the New York Post here.

    SourcedFrom Sourced from: Network For Investor Action & Protection

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    May 20, 2013, 11:14 am MST | Category: Madoff News |

    Prison exclusive: Bernie Madoff can’t sleep

    Bernard Madoff once had billions of dollars, but now he makes $40 a month doing menial prison labor. “I used to work as a clerk in the commissary, and now they have me taking care of the telephone and the computer systems,” said Madoff, speaking by phone from a federal prison in North Carolina. His prison phone account didn’t have any money in it, so he had to call CNNMoney collect. As far as the computers and phones go, Madoff said he has to “make sure they’re working and they’re kept clean,” but he emphasizes that this requires no technical skill whatsoever. More on CNNMoney here.

    SourcedFrom Sourced from: Network For Investor Action & Protection

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    May 20, 2013, 11:13 am MST | Category: Madoff News |

    Art Sales Will Boost Stanford Fraud Victims’ Recovery

    A Dale Chihuly chandelier that once belonged to convicted Ponzi-scheme operator R. Allen Stanford will go on the auction block next week. The approximately 7-foot-tall cobalt chandelier, made of hand-blown glass and steel, is valued at between $60,000 and $80,000. The proceeds raised from the chandelier’s sale at a May 22 public auction will eventually make their way to the pockets of Stanford’s cheated investors, who are relying upon a court-appointed receiver to track down their stolen funds. The receiver also is putting a Terence Main sculpture up for sale at the same auction. The 10-piece, 42-foot-long piece is called “Terrestial Tale” and has an estimated value of $20,000 to $30,000. More in the Wall Street Journal here.

    SourcedFrom Sourced from: Network For Investor Action & Protection

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    May 16, 2013, 12:22 pm MST | Category: Stanford News |

    SEC says new settlements end ‘Golden Goose’ insider trading case

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday said it has reached settlements with the last two defendants in an insider trading probe known as the “Golden Goose” case, which had been based on secrets stolen from an executive at a public relations firm. Jamil Bouchareb agreed to pay about $1.05 million and fellow trader Daniel Corbin agreed to pay about $191,000 in disgorged profit plus interest to settle the SEC’s civil cases, after having previously pleaded guilty to related criminal charges. Federal investigators accused the men of making trades based on tips about pending mergers between 2005 and 2008 from Matthew Devlin, a former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc broker. Investigators said Devlin misappropriated the information by listening to conversations of his wife Nina, an executive at public relations firm Brunswick Group LLC who worked on mergers, and assessing her travel schedule. More on Reuters here.

    SourcedFrom Sourced from: Network For Investor Action & Protection

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    May 16, 2013, 12:21 pm MST | Category: Madoff News, SEC |
     
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