Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme may have ripples all over the world.  It will be months, if not years, before it fades from the headlines.  Let us hope that the size of the scam does not lead people to write it off as a once-in-a-lifetime event, akin to the current worldwide financial collapse.   (more…)

On the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal is the story of Bernard L. Madoff, founder and principal owner of registered investment adviser Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors have accused him of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. (more…)

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Watermark Financial Services Group, Inc. (Watermark Financial), Watermark M-One Holdings, Inc. (Watermark Holdings), M-One Financial Services, LLC (M-One), Watermark Capital Group, LLC (Watermark Capital), Guy W. Gane, Jr., and Lorenzo Altadonna with running a Ponzi scheme that raised at least $5.7 million from approximately 90 investors, including a number of senior citizens, through the sale of debentures and promissory notes.  According to the SEC, the defendants - based in Western New York State - told investors that their money would be invested in real estate, but instead misappropriated the money, and used money from later investors to pay supposed distributions to earlier investors. 

A review of the SEC’s complaint shows that Altadonna was a stockbroker while allegedly selling these investments.  That fact should remind baby boomers and seniors that a well-recognized name on the door is no protection against broker misconduct. 

According to prosecutors in Westchester County, New York, Harvard graduate Alicia Eimicke stole almost $27 million in a Ponzi scheme that targeted her friends and family, among other investors.  Eimicke raised funds through her family business, V.W. Eimicke Associates Inc.   The company filed for bankruptcy in June 2004.  She remains free on bond, and will face sentencing on June 20.  (more…)