Local Madoff victims still feel the shame of the swindle
By: Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
June 30, 2009
Hundreds of Washington, D.C.-area investors received partial justice Monday morning with con-man Bernard Madoff's 150-year prison sentence for his role in a massive Ponzi scheme.
Thus far, however, none have received any of their money back, and most seem to want to put the entire episode behind them.
A spokesperson from Vornado/Charles E. Smith Realty, prominent property owners and developers in the Washington region, said the firm will not comment and is not involved with the scandal. Documents listing victims, however, reveal the firm numerous times.
Other mum area investors include Marion Rosenthal, car dealership mogul, Roger Sant, co-founder of Virginia-based power company AES, and William Haseltine, founder of Human Genome Sciences in Rockville.
"No no no no no," said another D.C.-area victim, who chose not to reveal her name. "I just want it all to be past, and I certainly want to stay out of the news."
Dozens of other calls to affected investors, made public in February, elicited similar responses.
"No comment at all," said one, before slamming down the phone.
Susan Frost is listed among the victims because she was the executive director of a D.C.-based Alliance for Excellent Education at the time of a Madoff investment. The District's Daniel and Sunita Leeds family, who invested heavily with Madoff, funded the agency.
"He devastated a lot of lives," Frost said. "A lot of universities and foundations and regular people really trusted that this was OK."
Not all of Madoff's victims were as reticent as those in D.C., evidenced by the lines of people who showed up outside of his New York City courtroom to deal a final piece of mind before he was sent away.
New Jersey resident Michael Schwartz, wished Madoff a jail cell for his coffin.
Dominic Ambrosino, a retired New York City corrections officer, asked "How could somebody do this to us? How could this be real? ... We will have to sell our home and hope to survive on Social Security alone."
