A list of clients who invested money with accused swindler Bernard Madoff was recently made public, and the list includes more than 100 individuals or companies that list their address in Maryland.
A 162-page document was included in a filing made Feb. 4 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan catalogs those who had investments with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, which allegedly perpetrated a Ponzi scheme that could top $50 billion.
The list includes individual investors across the state and money managers for people who invested with Madoff. Maryland money managers on the list include Jacqueline Desbois, a vice president of private banking with Chevy Chase Bank and two financial advisory firms in Rockville, Convergent Wealth Advisors and Fortigent Co.
Among the 14,000 others named were Columbia University, legendary baseball player Sandy Koufax, Madoff’s attorney Ira Lee Sorkin and Madoff’s family members, including his sons, Mark and Andrew, and his brother, Peter.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Scott Millen of Baltimore-Washington Financial Advisors. “Reportedly Madoff claimed consistent annual returns of 10 percent to 12 percent with little volatility and no annual losses. Can you name any other investor who can make that claim?”
Madoff, 70, and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday reached an agreement that could eventually force Madoff to pay a civil fine and return investors’ money.
Under the terms of the deal, Madoff will keep a previously reached agreement to freeze his assets and not to violate any other securities laws.
The agreement does not require Madoff to admit or deny any allegations against him. It also leaves the issues of any fines and repayments to be imposed against Madoff for a later time.
Separately, Madoff faces one count of securities fraud brought by the Justice Department for which he could face 20 years in prison.
Madoff is under house arrest and 24-hour surveillance in his luxury Manhattan penthouse apartment after being arrested Dec. 11, for what authorities have called the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. A Ponzi scheme typically is one in which returns to early investors are paid with the principal received from newer clients.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
