Madoff: One of Many Scammers?

Jan. 22, 2009 — -- As America sinks deeper into recession, more and more investors apparently are learning that their savings are gone, not because of a down market, but because they were victims of a scam.

Government investigators said they have seen millions of dollars disappear recently as Ponzi scams and other schemes come to light.

These aren't of the scale of the $50 billion that Bernard Madoff is alleged to have lost, but hundreds of millions of dollars have vanished. Officials point to the cases of Arthur G. Nadel in Florida, Joseph S. Forte in Philadelphia and James Ossie in Atlanta as among the most notable allegations.

Call them mini-Madoffs.

"With the economic downturn that we are experiencing, Ponzi schemes are just crashing," said Stephen Obie, acting director of enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Officials say it doesn't necessarily mean more scams are occurring, it just means that more are being exposed as scams.

The commission said the number of tips to the agency has doubled since July. In the last 12 months, it has filed 15 cases and Obie expects that to rise by 25 percent in the coming months.

"These schemes rely on new people to be found and people aren't investing. People are hurting. And because people are hurting, they are seeking redemptions from what they think are these legitimate schemes," Obie said. "Between not having new investors and having old investors redeem, the Ponzi schemes are just collapsing."

The most recent case to come to light involves Nadel, a Florida hedge fund manager who has been missing for more than a week and was charged Wednesday with misleading investors.

After the 76-year-old Sarasota-based manager's disappearance, hundreds of investors learned that $300 million of their money was gone, too.

Nadel left a suicide note at his home in which he described "extreme guilt" over losing other people's money. However, his car was found at a Sarasota airport and officials believe he planned his disappearance.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Nadel recently transferred at least $1.25 million to secret bank accounts that he controlled.

It is quite a downfall for a man named "America's Top Ranked Money Manager" in 2003 by The Wall Street Digest, an investment newsletter.

"The community is very shocked, obviously," said Gordon Garrett, a friend of Nadel's and president of the Jazz Club of Sarasota. "Art and his wife Peg have been very prominent members of our community, very involved with the arts."