Bernie Madoff: Destroyer of Charities

The $50 billion Ponzi scheme that came crashing down around Bernard Madoff has swallowed up dozens of charities around the world in addition to high profile banks and investment firms. The charities thought they were investing in a safe return, but instead find themselves out of cash and out of options.

Madoff's alleged fraud has especially hurt charities linked to his own Jewish faith.

SAR Academy, a Jewish day school in The Bronx, is believed to have lost up to $4 million in endowment money placed with the firm.

The Chais Family Foundation, which gave more than $12 million annually to Jewish causes in Israel and Europe, has already shuttered its doors because of its losses.

Two Manhattan-based civil-liberties groups - the JEHT Foundation and The Rockit Fund - said they were set to close in January because of the fraud.

DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has lost millions in Madoff's scam, The Wall Street Journal reports today.

Daily News owner and real-estate mogul Mort Zuckerman yesterday said his Mortimer B. Zuckerman Charitable Remainder Trust lost $30 million - 10 percent of its total assets. "That was still a big chunk of money that was intended to go to worthier causes than, shall we say, Mr. Madoff," Zuckerman said on CNBC.

Sources said Morse Life, a West Palm Beach senior-living and -care facility that relies heavily on donations and endowments, is in peril of closing because of the scandal. Officials for the center and its related organization did not return calls seeking comment.

Carl Shapiro, a 95-year-old philanthropist and apparel company founder, had $545 million of his personal fortune invested with Madoff, in addition to $145 million from his family charity - making him the biggest individual loser known, today's Journal reports.

Steven Spielberg's Wunderkinder Foundation, Yeshiva University, Sen. Frank Lautenberg's charitable foundation, and the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity all lost money with Madoff's scheme going up in flames.

SIPC has liquidated Madoff's holdings, but is authorized to pay out up to $500,000 to victims. For victims who lost tens or hundreds of millions, that's cold comfort. For charities that relied on Madoff's expertise to provide a safe return, it's the sad realization that everything that these charities worked for was wiped out.

What makes this especially hard to swallow is that federal regulators didn't catch Madoff's accounting games. He continually boasted to regulators about his profits. Questions were being raised about Madoff's financial dealings going back to 1999, but no action was taken.

UPDATE:
The Bergen Record has a who's who of companies, banks, and charities hit by Madoff's malfeasance. It's a long list, and includes many well known companies and individuals.