Word: ponzis
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...enacted, SEC examiners gave Madoff's organization, after registering as an investment adviser, a clean bill of health. Just months earlier hedge fund whistle-blower Harry Markopoulos had given SEC enforcement officials 29 red flags about Madoff's $50 billion fund, presciently calling it the world's biggest Ponzi scheme. Nobody cared. (See pictures of the demise of Bernard Madoff...
Though the complaint against Cosmo does not cite an official Ponzi scheme, it certainly looks and smells like a Ponzi. The complaint alleges that Agape's bridge loans were touted as secured by borrowers' assets and that investors would receive substantial interest returns ranging from 48% to 80% per year. Records indicate that from Jan. 1, 2006, to Nov. 30, 2008, more than $370 million was deposited into Agape accounts - the vast majority of which was provided by more than 1,500 investors - and that less than $10 million of the $370 million was actually used to make loans...
...lawyer who represents salespeople at the firm who "felt something wasn't right." The salespeople were selling friends and family on Agape's high-yield claims. "[Cosmo] actually sat down with investors and explained his investments to them. He was a very convincing salesman," said Devine. (Read "Beyond Madoff, Ponzi Schemes Proliferate...
...Once Madoff is imprisoned or dies, the circus of press coverage will die down. We will be left with only our memories of him and several dozen biographies that will come on and off the best seller list in a matter of months. (See a brief history of Ponzi schemes...
...post-Madoff enforcement on Ponzis, Heine says there's been no official push to go after Ponzi schemers. "We go after them as they come in," he said...