An Atlanta man has offered to buy Bernie Madoff's investment firm. And he's willing to pay a pretty penny for it, too. Ade Ogunjobi, who runs a company called Toks Inc.—and just so happens to have been born in Nigeria—has proposed to acquire the defunct firm in an "all stock tax free transaction involving $100 trillion in stock or 400 million shares" of his company.
ABC News caught up with Ruth Madoff the other day when she appeared downtown to pay a visit to her imprisoned husband. Shockingly, she was not in the mood to chat about whether she had anything to do with the scheme, or whether she has any regrets about what happened. But it is nice to see her lifestyle seems to have suffered a bit of a blow. After issuing the reporter a stern "Fuck you!" she hops into a taxi, instead of her customary chauffeur-driven Town Car. [ABC News via Dealbreaker]
Ezra Merkin, the money manager who plowed more than $2.4 billion of his clients' cash into Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, will now need to find a new occupation to keep him busy. He's agreed to turn over his three hedge funds to a liquidator at the "request" of Andrew Cuomo. As you may recall, the attorney general filed suit against the disgraced financier last month; Merkin is also contending with suits by about half a dozen of his investors, including Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman, who lost $15 million, and NYU, which lost $24 million in Merkin's Ariel hedge fund. On a more positive note, Merkin remains the frontrunner to take over as president of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue when the board convenes tomorrow! And if he decides to leave finance and go into journalism, he has a fantastic connection to help him get a foot in the door. Plus the Post has a new photo of him wearing a super-cool hat, so he's got that going for him, too, which is nice. [NYT]
Walter Noel's messy legal situation just got messier. Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee responsible for liquidating Bernie Madoff's investment firm and recouping funds for Madoff's victims, just filed a $3.2 billion lawsuit against Noel's firm, Fairfield Greenwich Group. So while Noel may get a chance to play golf in the Hamptons this summer, he's clearly going to have to learn how to swing a club and talk to his lawyer on his cellphone at the same time. [NYT]
Those of you waiting for a judge to throw the book at Bernie Madoff will have to wait a little longer. Madoff's sentencing has been pushed back from June 16 to June 29 because trying to decide who gets to speak at the proceeding has proven a wee bit complicated. Judge Denny Chin says it would be "impracticable" to have everyone who wants to address the court do so. (Presumably Chin was hoping to attend to other legal matters in 2009.) But it's not too late to turn in an application: "Those wanting to speak at next month's sentencing will need to e-mail the United States Attorney's office explaining why by June 10... Those selected to speak will be notified by June 15." [NYT/Dealbook]
Disgraced lawyer Marc Dreier pleaded guilty yesterday to a long list of charges and he may face life in prison when he's sentenced on July 13. In the meantime, though, it's time to celebrate! Today is Dreier's 59th birthday, and not even the prospect of spending the rest of his life in the clink can take that away from him. Even better: The judge allowed him to return to his massive Midtown apartment last night, where he's under house arrest and watched over by guards who cost Dreier $23,000 a month.
Bernie Madoff was kicked out of the Palm Beach Country Club a couple of months ago, as we first reported. Now it looks like the Walter and Monica Noel are facing the same sort of rejection. A tipster tells Guest of a Guest that the disgraced family has been booted from Greenwich's Round Hill Club. Update here. [GoaG]
Marc Dreier, the prostitute-loving attorney accused of bilking investors out of more than $400 million, will be giving up his luxury prison: The disgraced lawyer pleaded guilty this afternoon to conspiracy, securities fraud, money laundering and five counts of wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years on each count of securities fraud, and prosecutors have indicated they plan to ask for a life sentence. Either way, his habit of wrapping his arms around much larger black men should continue to many years to come. [WSJ]
How did Bernie Madoff's secretary know that something was really wrong with her boss in the final days leading up to his arrest? His blood pressure was up, he had to lie on the floor of his office because he was experiencing so much back pain, and one day he threw the mail in her face and declared he "didn't want to look at it anymore." [Vanity Fair]
Dealbreaker reports that Andy Madoff was out and about recently when he bumped into a former employee of his dad's firm. The encounter was not a friendly one—presumably having "Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC" on your resume in this job market is not all that much fun—and lots of shoving and punching ensued, according to witnesses. Hopefully the next time something like this happens—such as, say, when Alexandra Penney runs into Ruth Madoff while they're both shopping at Neiman Marcus—someone has a camera handy. [Dealbreaker]
Marc Dreier, the prostitute-loving disgraced lawyer accused of bilking investors out of hundreds of millions dollars, will plead guilty on May 11 to money laundering, according to his lawyer, Gerald Shargel. The saddest thing for Dreier? Once he does so, he'll have to say goodbye to this place. Can we interest you in a spectacular apartment in One Beacon Court, by any chance? [WSJ]
Fortune's massive article on Bernie Madoff is online and well worth your time if you have a free hour or so to spare today. You'll be pleased to hear the admitted fraudster is doing just fine in his 76-square-foot jail cell. He's exercising and reading a lot of books, and "looks surprisingly good these days." As always, if you'd like to drop Bernie a line and say hi, here's how. [Fortune]
This was bound to happen sooner or later. It seems Nigerian scam artists are now sending out emails in Ruth Madoff's name, claiming that there's $93 million sitting in a secret bank account somewhere, and she desperately needs help getting the money out. Please reply most urgently and treat with absolute confidentiality and sincerity! [Clusterstock]
Lawyer Marc Dreier is thoroughly disgraced, having been charged with bilking investors out of $400 million as part of a fake bond scheme. But things just got a little bit worse for the former mega-lawyer currently under house arrest: It appears he was a client of the prostitution ring operated by Jodi "Babydol" Gibson, the madam who served time in prison and later published a tell-all that identified Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck as past clients. Of course this also means Dreier has someone he can consult on what life is like on the inside, which may not be such a bad thing. [Dealbook]
Ruth Madoff paid another visit to her imprisoned husband yesterday. When she exited the Metropolitan Correctional Center, however, a photographer spotted her carrying a plastic bag with several dollar bills inside. Is Bernie Madoff now fleecing his fellow prisoners and having Ruth smuggle out the booty? That was TMZ's punchline. A more plausible scenario is that Ruth tried to bring Bernie some cash, although if that's the case, Ruth should be extremely thankful she's safely ensconced in her East 64th Street penthouse this evening and not spending the night behind bars. Allow us to explain:
Bernie Madoff didn't just screw over the members of the Palm Beach Country Club. He also managed to ruin more than a few families who belong to the North Shore Country Club on Long Island. A third of its members have had to cancel their $16,000-a-year memberships, the club is now laying off staff, and it may be forced to shut down entirely if it doesn't find an investor. [NYP]
