NEW YORK – Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax. Actor Kevin Bacon. World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein.
All three are among thousands of names on a list of clients of disgraced financial wizard Bernard Madoff.
The list – 162 pages of 84 lines each, but with many omissions of personal names and duplications reflecting multiple accounts – has been made public in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
A testament to the sweeping nature of Madoff’s alleged fraud, it includes his relatives, prominent business people, celebrities and charitable institutions.
The list does not specify how much money the customers may have lost, nor does it spell out their connection to Madoff. Some names appear merely to have been on his mailing list.
A few Canadians are on the list, including Judy Pencer, sister-in-law of the late Gerald Pencer, former CEO of soft-drink maker Cott Corp. She declined to comment.
The list also names A. Segal Holdings, a private company of Alvin Segal of Montreal, chairman and CEO of apparel maker and importer Peerless Clothing. He did not immediately respond to a phone call.
Many on the list compiled for a court-appointed trustee likely lost money with Madoff, but it is not clear how many were victims of his alleged $50-billion Ponzi scam, or that all of the victims have been identified.
Many who lost money with Madoff did so through investment funds that dealt with the New York money manager. Their names would not be listed individually in Madoff’s books.
The client list was released shortly after a whistleblower in the case, Harry Markopolos, told lawmakers at a House of Representatives hearing that managers of these so-called feeder funds may have ignored signs of fraud.
Lawmakers also have accused Securities and Exchange Commission officials of impeding their probe into how the agency failed to uncover the alleged scam.
Prosecutors say Madoff admits he lost more than $50 billion belonging to investors. Defence lawyers say he has co-operated with authorities to help identify assets.
The customers include prominent people and institutions that already had been publicly revealed, such as the Wilpon family, owner of the New York Mets.
Silverstein held the lease to the World Trade Center’s office space when the twin towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, and is building three towers to replace it. A spokesman said in a statement that “losses incurred by Larry Silverstein and his family absolutely pale in comparison to those innocent investors who lost their life savings as a result of this scheme.”
One client is Ira Sorkin, the attorney defending Madoff against charges he perpetrated the biggest financial fraud in history.
Others include Madoff’s wife, sons and brother.
Madoff, not yet indicted, is under house arrest at his multimillion-dollar penthouse.
