SEC Finds Another Ponzi Scheme; Still Didn't Catch Bernie Madoff
In its zeal to prove it really is tough on Ponzi schemes -- Bernie Madoff's $50 billion grift notwithstanding -- the SEC just charged a Philadelphia-area man with running a $50 million Ponzi scheme that may have defrauded as many as 80 investors. Which, we would note, is exactly a factor of 1,000 less than Madoff's scam.
The SEC got a court order freezing the assets of, Joseph S. Forte of Broomall, Penn., whom the SEC says promised to invest in securities futures contracts. Despite the impressive returns reported to investors, Forte consistently lost money and used fees paid to him for personal use. He also falsely inflated the value of his fund and used investor funds to repay other investors -- the classic Ponzi practice.
Here's the entire SEC release on the scam.
Last month, the SEC caught another Ponzi scammer who was preying on Haitian-Americans.
-- Frank Ahrens
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Frank Ahrens
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January 8, 2009; 11:12 AM ET
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| Tags: Madoff, Ponzi, SEC
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Posted by: lydgate | January 8, 2009 12:06 PM | Report abuse
thank you, lydgate. I noticed the same truly egregious arithmetic error.
Madoff's crime cost his investors fifty billion, with a "B" - and there are a thousand millions in a billion.
Posted by: incredulousinBoyntonBeach | January 8, 2009 12:27 PM | Report abuse
Thanks for the catch, guys. Typing too fast.
Posted by: Frank Ahrens | January 8, 2009 1:18 PM | Report abuse
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Not a factor of 10, but a factor of 1000. How can the media intelligently report on financial news when reporters lack a grasp of basic arithmetic?