Friday, January 2, 2009

Updated Madoff Investor List

There is stil a lot of double counting in the list, but the WSJ has updated it. And, they are calculating damages from the high point, not the amount of money originally invested.

I am not saying that is wrong, but it is. If you invested $500,000, and Madoff told you in account statements that there was 2 million dollars in your account, and now there is zero, you lost two million dollars.

However, legally, you lost $500,000 plus interest or a reasonable rate of return.

Not that it makes a difference to the investor, since he still feels a 2 million dollar loss, but it will make a difference to the courts, and arbitration panels, and SIPC.