Even More People F'ed by Madoff! Maybe Even YOU!

Posted by Nicholas Kristof on The New York Times' blog "On The Ground", 1/29/09:

I've obtained a list of nearly all the private foundations that invested money directly with Bernard Madoff. What is staggering is how many of these 147 foundations had all their assets invested with [him] and may have been wiped out as a result. Many non-profit organizations invested with Mr. Madoff and will suffer a double-whammy, losing not only their own savings but also the support of foundations that previously donated regularly but are now broke. And they will also lose some of their individual donors who were invested with Mr. Madoff as well.

This is the first time this information has been compiled and made public. I'm posting the list because this is a matter of public concern: These foundations serve the public interest, and if the non-profits that rely on them have been financially crippled we should get a heads up. The philanthropic world also should wonder if there aren't more Madoffs out there.

These foundations didn't do anything wrong; they thought they were safely invested in a variety of financial instruments that they describe on the tax forms. Then there's the question of the accountants who prepared these tax returns. A surprising number of the foundations invested in Mr. Madoff shared the same accounting firms, generally small ones at that. One wonders if they could have looked more skeptically at the kinds of trades that supposedly were being placed on the foundations' behalf by Mr. Madoff. Who knows what else is out there? If I were a board member of a non-profit, I'd be making some calls.