The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma said it lost $1.4 million, less than 1 percent of its assets, when third-party money managers invested in two of Madoff’s allegedly fraudulent hedge funds. [1]

It almost looks like comic relief, but that amount’s still serious money to the OK Baptist community.  It puts the damage to Bernie’s core constituency that includes NY & FL Modern Orthodox congregations [2] into perspective.  Later, from the same story, …

Like many Ponzi schemes, Madoff is accused of an affinity fraud, which preys on victims of identifiable groups such as ethnic or religious communities. The Madoff scandal targeted high-profile Jewish charities, including the American Jewish Congress, Elie Weisel’s Foundation for Humanity and a charity started by filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

This story [3] from The National Law Journal has a comprehensive list of challenges that need to be untangled.

Potential areas of controversy include the following:

• The fate of funds sent out of the United States, and international litigation to recover them.
• The difference in state laws regarding how far back the bankruptcy court may go to recover illegal Madoff payouts.
• "Mushy" bankruptcy law regarding what constitutes a "fraudulent conveyance" of payments by Madoff to early investors.
• [many more ...]

Looks like it’s going to be a long slog.

————-

[1]: "Baptist foundation loses money in Madoff scandal", by Bob Allen, Associated Baptist News, January 26, 2009.

[2]: "The Long Arm of Halacha: Jewish Law and the Madoff Scandal", by Chaim Saiman, Forward, January 15, 2009.

[3]: "A new legal industry: Madoff", by Pamela A. MacLean, National Law Journal, January 26, 2009.

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