circa-jewels

Who's Profiting from the Madoff Mess: Fabiola Beracasa!

cityfile · 01/07/09 02:26PM

One person you probably didn't expect to be profiting from Bernie Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme: Fabiola Beracasa! The oft-photographed social butterfly has a day job, in case you were unaware: She's the creative director of CIRCA, the estate jewelry company where "Madoff-related jewels had been incoming all month, like expensive shrapnel," according to the current issue of The New Yorker. Fabiola's boss, Chris Del Gatto (left), says his company has been inundated with precious pieces since news of the scandal broke, which he then proceeds to prove to reporter Lizzie Widdicombe by dumping a manila envelope filled with "the day's harvest from Palm Beach"—more than $250,000 worth of jewels—on a desk. Del Gatto is quick to point out that he isn't a "pirate" for profiting off desperate sellers. (If anything, his outfit here strikes as "safari guide" more than anything else.) And he adds that his firm has since had to assume the role of "priest, rabbi, and psychiatrist" to help distraught Madoff investors cope with the loss of family heirlooms. It's a role we imagine Fabiola has settled into quite nicely considering her first-hand experience with the subject.