Palm Beach police: Jeffry Picower has died [friend of Maoff]

Those concrete swim fins are difficult to master.

Does this mean that his wife inherits the money without any danger of being indicted for her husbands crimes? mmm-mmm-mmm

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Proverbs 23:5

Check his bank account!

How convenient.

I think the Feds have their eye on the money. They would go after the inheritance.

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/billionaire-madoff-investor-found-dead/

Who the bloody heck is Maoff?

Possibly it's a new spelling of Madoff, as he can't afford a "d" anymore.

It’s kinda like the Pittsburg Jagoff, but in Bejing.

oops - Madoff as in Bernie.

typing on EeePC with my fat fingers

Does this mean that Picower's widow inherits ALL the money without any danger of being indicted for her husbands crimes?

Authorities should go after The Florida-based Picower Foundation .......worth $1 billion......one of the top financial backers of the abortion industry.

Barbara and Jeffrey Picower

The Picower Foundation
1410 South Ocean Blvd
Palm Beach, Fla 33480
Tele 561-835-1332
Geographic Focus: Florida; New York;
SOURCE http://www.tgci.com/funding/fdnresultnew.asp?thisID=19499

The number of tax-exempt "foundations and charities" attached to Madoff's scam is VERY fishy. NOTE: the IRS has targeted tax-exempt "foundations and charities" as the locus classicus for money laundering and tax evasion--- the BIGGEST fraud is one charity writing checks to another charity---the way these "altristic philanthropists" siphon off funds for themselves--all tax-free.

Picard sued longtime Madoff "investor" Jeffry Picower (Picower took a startling 950% return) to recover $6.7 billion for victims; Picard seeks another $500 million after finding additional evidence of Picower's excess withdrawals. Picower's $7.2 billion withdrawal from Madoff's firm, makes the Florida "philanthropist" the biggest beneficiary of Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.

It was recently uncovered that Madoff kept detailed notes about his activites and that some "investors" made deals, demanding specific returns on investments, meaning they were in on the scam. Some investors also wrote Madoff personal checks......evidence of tax evasion and money laundering.

REFERENCE CBS' 60 Minutes reported 9/27/09: Madoff's detailed notes reveal Jeffrey Picower---a major Planned Parenthood backer---was receiving a return of some 950%. According to the court-appointed trustee Irving Picard, this indicated Picower was in on the Ponzi scheme and was profiting at the expense of other investors. As a savvy businessman and investor, Picower should have known 950% was an outlandish return, Picard indicated.

Bernie was hightailing it to global money-laundering havens just before he got nailed. $12B was pulled out of Bernard L. Madoff’s firm in 2008, and $6B just three months before he was arrested last Dec.....BVI's Vizcaya Partners Ltd. and Gibraltar-based Banque Jacob Safra Ltd. got $150M (that we know of) about six weeks before Madoff was exposed.

Picard, who is ID'ing Madoff's assets, unearthed a labyrinth of interrelated international funds, institutions and entities of almost unparalleled complexity and breadth...... and assets and businesses in 11 places overseas. No question,tax evasion and money laundering was the name of the game for the wealthiest Madoffians-----businessmen who were funneling income to Madoff to avoid US taxes, acting like "philanthropists."

LABYRINTH OF MADOFF'S SOCIAL-RELIGIOUS-PHILANTHROPIC TAX-EXEMPTS THAT RAKED IN BILLIONS---INTERACTIVE AT WEB SITE
http://news.muckety.com/2008/12/28/madoff-used-social-family-networks-to-rake-in-billions/9031

Jeffrey Picower and Stanley Chais are two "philanthropists" who are the target of lawsuits brought by Picard. Garmento Carl Shapiro, a close friend of Madoff, is also under criminal investigation....... Authorities are going after these people under the legal concept of "fraudulent conveyance"----meaning one cannot profit from a fraud.

Brighton Co Investments is headed by Stanley Chais, a Beverly Hills "philanthropist" who served on "charitable" boards with Madoff. Chais (pronounced Chase) told the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles that he not only personally invested with Madoff, but he also "facilitated" others who wished to do likewise. However, spokesmen for the SEC and the California Dept of Corporations said they could find no record of Chais registering as an investment advisor or a broker.

Stanley Chais offers remarks at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

That doe-eyed, winsome smirk hides an unspeakable evil.

"I'm Bernie. Trust me."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-25/did-bernie-madoff-get-a-billion-dollar-kickback/full/

Jeffry Picower, a seldom-seen philanthropist, investor and confidant of Bernard Madoff, stands accused by the Madoff bankruptcy trustee of extracting $5.1 billion from Madoff’s enterprises during the last two decades. Now a lawyer representing 100 Madoff victims suggests it was no accident that Picower was one of the few Madoff customers who made a substantial profit.

(snip)

Picower may have deposited $1.6 billion with Madoff, while withdrawing as “profit” more than $6.7 billion, for a net profit of $5.1 billion “of other peoples’ money.”

(snip)

While coverage of Picower has been scant, on various occasions, The St. Petersburg Times, Forbes, and most recently Pro Publica have raised the question of whether he used his charities to mine information—especially about the medical developments—that he then used in chasing deals. He was the biggest shareholder in Alaris Medical Systems and collected more than $1 billion when it was bought by Cardinal Health in 2004.

(snip)

//

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/1014/068_print.html

http://www.propublica.org/feature/madoff-client-jeffry-picower-netted-5-billion

(no link)

Complex web benefits foundation founder
St. Petersburg Times - Sunday, July 8, 2001
Author: MARY JACOBY
A decade ago, a wealthy Palm Beach investor met a world-renowned scientist for dinner at an Italian restaurant on New York’s upper East Side.

They were celebrating a promising new partnership.

Jeffry M. Picower had decided to endow a non-profit medical research institute. His Florida-based foundation would give $10-million in initial funding to find cures for the maladies that afflict humankind. Dr. Anthony Cerami, internationally acclaimed inventor of a revolutionary diabetes test, would run it.

“My mother suffered from diabetes even before my birth and died at an early age of it,” Picower told the New York Times. He pledged that profits from new drugs discovered at the institute would flow back into its coffers to pay for more discoveries.

“It’s just for the benefit of science, and my family will not get anything back, no matter what happens.”

Over the next 10 years, as the assets of the Jeffry M. and Barbara Picower Foundation swelled to $658-million, making it the second largest foundation in Florida, its benefactor was spinning an unusual web of business relationships between it, the Picower Institute for Medical Research and two for-profit pharmaceutical companies.

When the spinning was over, a for-profit drug company owned largely by Picower was left holding license to many of the most important discoveries of the Picower Institute.

Humankind, it seems, would not be the only beneficiary of the spending and investments of the non-profit Jeffry M. and Barbara Picower Foundation.

Jeffry M. Picower would, too.

Because Congress wants to encourage charitable giving, it has given foundations significant tax advantages. Donors can deduct the amount of their gifts from their taxable income, an important incentive for wealthy people to establish foundations. And foundations pay virtually no tax.

The law forbids people who create or manage foundations from profiting, even indirectly, from the endowments.

“The sweep of the self-dealing rules captures direct as well as indirect business relationships,” said Marcus Owens, former director of the IRS’s tax-exempt organizations division. “With private foundations, the self-dealing proscription is very tight.”

The penalty for self-dealing is a 25 percent tax on the amount of money involved in the improper activity and return of the money.

But if you are a wealthy person running your own foundation, the chance you will face scrutiny is practically nil. The IRS regularly audits less than 1 percent of private foundation returns; of 61,185 returns filed in 1998 for foundations that held about $390-billion in assets, the IRS audited 191.

Neither is the public likely to question the work of a foundation such as Picower ‘s, whose gifts have included $533,000 to the Intracoastal Health Foundation in West Palm Beach, $2.3-million to New York public libraries, $200,000 to Teach for America - and at least $22.5-million over the years to the Picower Institute.

But behind the velvet drape of Picower ‘s philanthropy is a story different from the usual script. The backstage is cluttered with angry lawsuits, cowed scientists and bitter former business partners. It is the turmoil left behind when one man plays all the leading parts in and directs his own charitable production:

Picower runs the Picower Foundation.

Picower runs the Picower Institute.

The Picower Foundation funds the Picower Institute.

Researchers at the Picower Institute discover a drug that they hope will alleviate the suffering of a whole universe of people: victims of arthritis, multiple sclerosis, stroke and inflammatory bowel disease.

A deal is cut. A merger creates a for-profit pharmaceutical company that gets the license to develop this potential blockbuster drug and other promising Picower Institute discoveries.

This company’s largest shareholder? Jeffry M. Picower .

Lol! Oh, right then. Just turned on the telly and they mentioned it. Fox news -I shall tune them in again later on to find out more.

Thanks for the ping... sure sheds a light on this Mao styled health care ideology. What a way to make a living, kill before first breath can be taken. Wonder who the kingpins are on the end of life measures BamaKennedy titled ‘pills instead of procedures’.

That whole “nonprofit” thing is a rich person scam. It’s how wealthy women have parties on the taxpayers dime...

Accident, accidental suicide, deliberate suicide or foul play...?

Mostly related news:

Here's something that flew mostly under the radar :
Madoff Victims Aren’t Entitled to Fake Profit, SIPC Tells Judge - BL, 2009 October 17, by Erik Larson

Bernard Madoff’s victims aren’t entitled to the return of fake profit from the $65 billion Ponzi scheme, the Securities Investor Protection Corp. told a judge ahead of a February hearing on how to calculate losses.
The claims must be based on victims’ cash deposits minus withdrawals, rather than on their final account statements that show bogus trades and false annual returns, the quasi-government agency, which is liquidating Madoff’s firm, said in a filing yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
“No trades were actually made for the investors,” SIPC said in the filing. “Trades that appeared on account statements were on paper only and were backdated and chosen to correspond with yields that were pre-determined by Bernard Madoff.”
Trustee Irving Picard, who was hired by SIPC, triggered a flood of court objections with his cash-in, cash-out method for calculating claims. The claims determine how much money victims will get from the liquidation and from Picard’s lawsuits against Madoff’s biggest investors and insiders. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland will approve or reject Picard’s method at a hearing scheduled for Feb. 2.

Chais Defends SEC Suit Citing Agency’s Failure to Stop Madoff - BL, 2009 October 22, by David Glovin

Money manager Stanley Chais, denying allegations in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against him stemming from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, said the agency itself is to blame for failing to stop the fraud.
The SEC sued Chais in June, saying Chais since the early 1970s steered assets from three investment funds to Madoff, “despite having clear indications” the money manager was engaged in fraud, the SEC said its lawsuit.
Chais, in his response filed yesterday in federal court in Manhattan, denied many of the allegations and faulted the SEC for failing to catch Madoff’s fraud. A report by the SEC’s internal watchdog in September criticized the agency for missing repeated signs of fraud at Madoff’s firm.
The SEC’s “claims are barred by virtue” of its “own conduct, which provided credibility to Madoff,” Chais, a resident of New York and Beverly Hills, California, said in his answer to the lawsuit. .....
Madoff, in an interview with Kotz, said he “was astonished” when investigators failed to check trading records that would have exposed his scam, according to the report. Some Madoff investors have said they were reassured by the SEC’s failure to take action against him. .....

What's interesting to note about this recently filed suit by Chais is that Picower was not a part of it, or didn't bother to file a similar one separately. Previously he and Chais ("dynamic duo") were talking and working largely in tandem on the issue... This time, though, the "dog didn't bark". So, in light of that... was this "incident," only a few days later, not unexpected?

Mets owner Wilpon liable for Madoff millions - NYP, 2009 October 21, by Bruce Golding

Talk about getting caught in a jam. After watching his team go down to defeat this season, Mets owner Fred Wilpon now faces potential "clawback" suits for raking in nearly $50 million in phony profits from Bernard Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
The "Mets Limited Partnership" appears twice on a new list of 31 investors who took home more money from Madoff than they handed over to the mega scammer.
According to the chart compiled by Madoff bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard, the company -- reportedly linked to Wilpon through state incorporation records -- withdrew $570.5 million after investing $522.7 million in two separate Madoff accounts.
A spokesman for Picard didn't return a request for comment, but a former federal prosecutor told Bloomberg News that the trustee would be in "violation of his fiduciary duty" if he doesn't go after the excess dough.
Wilpon, chairman of the Sterling Equities real-estate investment firm, personally lost $700 million investing with Madoff, pal Larry King told GQ magazine earlier this year, although at the time the Mets said: "The numbers speculated continue to be inaccurate." According to Picard's filing in Manhattan Bankruptcy Court, the Mets Limited Partnership had $829,230 purportedly on account with Madoff shortly before his colossal con collapsed in December. .....

Biden’s Son Wins Dismissal of Paradigm Fraud Suit - BL, 2009 October 17, by Karen Gullo

R. Hunter Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, won dismissal of a fraud lawsuit alleging he backed out of a deal to acquire an interest in Paradigm Global Advisors parent Paradigm Cos.
Stephane Farouze, global head of fund derivatives for Deutsche Bank AG, claimed in a complaint filed in New York state court in Manhattan last year that Biden and his partner Anthony Lotito agreed to purchase Farouze’s interest in Paradigm when they were seeking to take over the company. Biden and Lotito countered that Farouze never held an interest in the hedge fund company and cut him out of the deal, according to court records.
The lawsuit had to be dismissed because Farouze failed to allege specific facts about what fraud was committed and the transactions that gave rise to his claims, New York Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried said in a ruling yesterday.
“The Bidens are very pleased that they were vindicated and the judge found the claims lacked merit,” said Nick Gravante, an attorney at Boies, Schiller & Flexner representing Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden, who was also named in the lawsuit. .....

A seldom-seen philanthropist, investor and confidant of Bernard Madoff, Picower is accused by the Madoff bankruptcy trustee of extracting $5.1B from Madoff’s enterprises in two decades.......making a 950% profit. A lawyer representing 100 Madoff victims suggests it was no accident that Picower was one of the few Madoff customers who made a substantial profit.......

Investigators may be looking at the legal parameters of prosecutable crimes including making false statements to state and federal officials, filing falsified documents, obstruction of proceedings before state and federal agencies, fiduciary negligence, and obstruction of US justice. The tax exempts might have facilitated IRS fraud by integrating:

1. Secret control over tax exempt fund-raising committees.

2. Requiring only one signature on tax-exempt bank checks.

3. Utilizing pre-signed tax-exempt bank checks.

4. Using secret bank accounts to keep secret the actual financial position of tax-exempt "charities."

5. Assigning bank deposit and account reconciliation functions of tax-exempts to one person.

6. Conspiring to hide oversight of expenses and supporting vouchers from public view.

7. Having no outside auditor to review tax-exempt statements.

8. Cashing unusually large amounts of tax-exempt checks.

9. Having no official deposit and withdrawal control system.

10. Arranging kickbacks to other "charities" in exchange for donations.

======================================

THE MODUS OPERANDI: ....behind the velvet drape of Picower‘s philanthropy is a different story........cluttered with angry lawsuits, cowed scientists and bitter former business partners. It is the turmoil left behind when one man plays all the leading parts in and directs his own charitable production. Picower runs the Picower Foundation. Picower runs the Picower Institute. The Picower Foundation funds the Picower Institute. Researchers at the Picower Institute discover a drug that they hope will alleviate the suffering of a whole universe of people: victims of arthritis, multiple sclerosis, stroke and inflammatory bowel disease. A deal is cut. A merger creates a for-profit pharmaceutical company that gets the license to develop this potential blockbuster drug and other promising Picower Institute discoveries. This company’s largest shareholder? Jeffry M. Picower ......

Fraudulent "charitable" activities might involve passing checks from one "charitable" account to another in multiple conspiracies to launder monies and evade taxes. Authorities should investigate the Picower's tax-exempts' US Postal Service mailings, wire transfers, computer transfers, electronic submissions, and unregulated money transfers, and all bank transfers connected to tax-exempt bank accounts.