04/24/09 The Raw Greenwich News Feed: The daily diary of Greenwich Life (Updated)

If You Want To Know What's Really Going On In Greenwich You Have To Read Out Of Town News Sources

Here Is The Story That Managing Editor Bruce Hunter Failed To Cover Online At The Greenwich Time .....

How Bernie did it
CNNMoney.com

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The employees were transfixed. Standing on the mid-Manhattan trading floor of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in late 2007, a half-dozen staffers stared up at the ceiling-mounted TV as CNBC aired a report on the mysterious Palm Beach death of a hedge fund manager who had been leading a double life. The police, it appeared, were even considering the possibility that he had been murdered. "Bernie," someone casually asked as Madoff happened to walk by, "have you heard of this guy?"

Madoff glanced at the screen, blanched, and exploded: "Why the fuck would I be interested in some shit like that?" The employees recoiled. "I never saw him react like that before," says a Madoff trader who witnessed the outburst. "It obviously hit a nerve.".....

....Then there was the man who ran the floor, Frank DiPascali, Madoff's chief deputy on 17. He was a 33-year veteran of the firm, with a rough Queens accent and a high-school education, but nobody was quite sure what he did or what his title was. "He was like a ninja," says a former trader in the legitimate operation upstairs. "Everyone knew he was a big deal, but he was like a shadow.".....

A Bit About Greenwich Resident Mark Madoff:

....Mark was in charge of the main trading business at the time the firm collapsed. If he didn't have his younger brother's intellect, he had the people skills that marked him as heir to the Madoff throne. A frat boy, he was easygoing and low-key, occasionally driving his Vespa to work from his SoHo apartment. In his younger days, he would accompany his fellow traders to the topless bar Scores......

A Bit About Greenwich Resident Walter Noel And His Fairfield Greenwich Feeder Fund:

.....Then came the closest call: The SEC launched an investigation in 2006. A whistleblower named Harry Markopolos had spent years trying to persuade the SEC that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme (he had been a key source for the Mar/Hedge article). The SEC also examined whether Fairfield Greenwich, a giant feeder fund, was properly disclosing the extent of its reliance on Madoff.

Madoff had always been terrified of the SEC. "Every time the SEC came into the office," remembers one longtime employee, "Bernie was a basket case." Wherever Madoff was in the world, he would fly back, even for a routine examination. He peppered employees with questions about their preparedness. "What's up?" he would ask nervously. "What's up? What's up?"

This time Madoff was being asked specifically about his fraudulent investment business. Once again he prepared -- not only himself but also his customer Fairfield Greenwich. A phone conversation with representatives of Fairfield Greenwich in December 2005 was taped, transcribed, and made public as part of a Commonwealth of Massachusetts suit charging Fairfield Greenwich with essentially abdicating its responsibility to protect its investors. The transcript provides a revealing example of Madoff's thinking and his ability to manipulate.

"Obviously, first of all, this conversation never took place ... okay?" Madoff began. ("Yes, of course," was the reply from Fairfield Greenwich's risk manager, though the company has since asserted that it informed the SEC of the conversation at the time.) Madoff proceeded to spin a strange, fragmentary -- he seemed to interrupt himself every few words -- self-contradictory set of talking points for Fairfield to follow in its SEC interview.....

.....Madoff was telling Fairfield to deny the obvious: that he was managing their money. At the same time, he portrayed his firm's role as something well known to the SEC. "They're aware of the fact that we do this," Madoff said, adding later, "The commission knows how we -- how we operate." (An SEC spokesman declined to comment.)

Madoff went on to disparage the SEC investigation as a "fishing expedition," saying that "these girls" -- the SEC's lawyers -- might not understand the strategy, and implying that they might not press too hard because SEC lawyers have ambitions to go into lucrative private practice and don't want to alienate the sorts of firms that might hire them. "It's none of their business," he added. Madoff, who appeared at times to be reading from a list of bullet points, also advised the Fairfield Greenwich team on the tone they should take. "You don't want them to think that you're concerned about anything ... You're best off [if] you just be, you know, casual." Fairfield has said it told the truth to the SEC.

When it was his turn to be interviewed by the SEC, in May 2006, Madoff flat-out lied. When he was asked, for example, "Is it correct, then, that the equities are traded in Europe?" he responded, "Yes." (Madoff often told people he made all sorts of trades in Europe, where it would be harder to verify what he was doing.) Needless to say, there were no equities being traded in Europe or anywhere else.....

.....The man once famous for rebuffing potential investors was now openly soliciting the ultrawealthy: Ken Langone, the Pritzker family, and others were invited to invest. And Madoff leaned on some of his most loyal investors for cash infusions. Carl Shapiro ponied up $250 million. Some of the principals at Fairfield Greenwich added another $15 million. But it just wasn't enough......

But It Is Not All Bad News For Greenwich Resident Walter "Feeder Fund" Noel.....

Madoff Lieutenant Negotiating Plea Deal, Naming Names
The Business Insider
Apparently he can't implicate Fairfield Greenwich in the fraud either, which is good news for them, though they don't have to be directly complicit in it to be in a whole world of legal trouble for their lack of due diligence.

The Raw Greenwich News Feed Continues......

Embezzler has pled guilty and is soon to be sentenced
WNLK
By WSTC/WNLK Newsroom
A Greenwich woman has pled guilty to embezzling more than 250000 dollars from her former employer, a Stamford towing company.

Susan Rudisill worked as a bookkeeper for bill's service. Authorities said Rudisill over several years wrote company checks to herself and altered the payroll to give herself more money. "The Advocate" reports Rudisill will be sentenced July 23.

Area lawmakers torn over gay marriage vote
Norwalk Advocate
"I think my generation was not comfortable voting 'yes' on same-sex marriage," Gibbons said, adding that lawmakers from Greenwich received about 800 phone ...

State Senate passes gay marriage bill
Norwalk Advocate
L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, said he voted against the bill in part to protest the state Supreme Court's ruling. Frantz said he believes Connecticut had ...

Denim, Diamonds, and Girl Scouts - Girl Scouts of Connecticut's ...
Norwalk Plus Magazine
The 2009 Honorees are Phyllis and Bruce Nicholas of Greenwich, Priscilla and John Woyke of New Canaan, and Marion Glowka of Stamford. ...

Mel Gibson : Divorce to strip Mel Gibson of half his life long ...
Entertainment and Showbiz!
Two years ago he sold his 28-room Greenwich, Connecticut, mansion for USD 39.5 million. In May, 2007, Gibson bought a 160-plus-hectare ranch in Costa Rica ...

In Whom Do We Trust?
Mediapost.com
Indicates upbringing in Darien, Greenwich or other town where parents would rather say "yes" than "no" to their pendulant, spoiled offspring. ...

Olympus Partners Invests $50 Million in Atlas Industrial Services
RedOrbit
Atlas Industrial Services LLC is an affiliate of Greenwich, Conn. -based Atlas Holdings LLC ("Atlas Holdings") which has overseen the significant growth at ...

Weekend planned for Jewish families touched by adoption
New Jersey Jewish Standard
The Adoption Connection at Jewish Family Services of Greenwich, Conn., in conjunction with the New Jersey Y Camps, will host a “Forever Families Weekend” ...

Diebold Re-Elects Board Members, Declares Cash Dividend
RedOrbit
Alan J. Weber , chief executive officer, Weber Group LLC, Greenwich, Conn. The board of directors declared a second-quarter cash dividend of 26 cents per ...

Youth Soccer -- Wilton chalks up an 'Orignal' victory
Wilton Villager
Wilton Blue played a hard-fought game against Old Greenwich, coming up just short in a 3-1 loss. The lone Wilton goal came on a well-placed penalty kick by ...

Baseball Takes On Fairleigh Dickinson In Teaneck, NJ This Weekend
Quinnipiac Bobcats
Sophomore Joe Poletsky (Greenwich, Conn.) currently leads the team with 18 RBI. Poletsky is second on the team with six multiple-RBI games and eight two-out ...

Performance shifts gears
News & Observer
2007 North Castle Partners of Greenwich, Conn. acquires Performance Inc. 2008 Performance Inc. hires Jim Thompson as chief executive officer. ...

New Hampshire Design Collaborative and Haven Custom Homes ...
RedOrbit
... in some of the country's most architecturally discriminating neighborhoods including Martha's Vineyard, the Hamptons, Hilton Head and Greenwich, CT . ...

Private Banks Expand On SFO Partnerships
Private Asset Management
Michael Zeuner, senior executive partner for GenSpring Family Offices, says the firm now often pairs up with SFOs and that the firm's own Greenwich, Conn., ...

Norwalk police blotter
Norwalk Advocate
Police later found that Williams was arrested Saturday in Greenwich on charges of soliciting. Williams was charged with soliciting without a permit, ...

Tiger Cubs Added into List of Gurus:
GuruFocus.com
Viking was formed in 1999 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Viking manages two hedge funds invested in equities worldwide. Prior to founding Viking, ...

Girls lacrosse: RHS falls to McMahon after dramatic win over Danbury
Ridgefield Press
“And our next two games are against [perennial powers] New Canaan and Greenwich.” McMahon took control from the start, building a 13-6 halftime lead. ...

Web sheds light on business
Norwalk Advocate
By Harold Davis
Archie Russell Jr., owner of Fashion Light Center LLC in Greenwich, said an online presence has helped the high-end lighting business ...

Owls Win Sixth Straight, Defeat St. Anselm 4-1
Southern Connecticut State University Athletics
Matt Pessy (Greenwich, Conn.) got the Owls on the board first with a RBI double to right field in the second. Pessy's double marked his first as an Owl. In ...

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