Vanished Florida fund manager Nadel left a $350 million hole

— -- Brad Lerner was pleased when a November statement showed his $500,000 investment in a fund run by Arthur Nadel had gained 8.5% for the year as the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 39%.

Lerner, an internist from Sarasota, Fla., never got a December statement.

Instead, one of Nadel's partners came to him last week with the news that the fund manager couldn't be found. Lerner and others whose money was invested by Nadel's Scoop Management in Sarasota may have lost as much as $350 million, law enforcement officials say.

"Hindsight is 20-20," said Lerner, who had most of his life savings in the Viking IRA fund. "But I guess it was too good to be true."

The FBI joined local police over the weekend in the search for Nadel, 76, who left his $250,000 four-bedroom home for work on Wednesday morning and hasn't been seen by his family or business partners since. The investigation follows by a month the alleged confession by New York's Bernard Madoff of running what's been termed a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

The FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Sarasota police will meet Tuesday morning, Capt. Bill Spitler of the Sarasota Police Department said.

Sarasota police are focusing on tracking down the missing money and talking to victims, Spitler said. After receiving seven formal complaints on Saturday, police had about 40 voice mails Monday from possible victims, Spitler said. The Sarasota Sheriff's Office is attempting to find Nadel.

Nadel's Subaru was found Thursday in a parking lot at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. He left his family a note at home in which he sounded "distraught," according to Lt. Chuck Lesaltato of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Nadel spoke by phone to his wife, Marguerite, since leaving home, according to Neil Moody, who contracted with Nadel to run three funds, including Viking IRA.

"The employees of Scoop Management, which includes Peg Nadel, the wife of Arthur Nadel, have just learned that they, along with many others who have invested money with Art, have been victimized by his unauthorized actions," Nadel's family said in a statement, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.