Los Angeles, CA – A prominent Los Angeles investment manager and philanthropist Friday got nailed with the first ignorance-is-no defense suit in the Bernie Madoff scandal.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Irving Picard, who’s in charge of liquidating Madoff’s stolen stash, charged that Stanley Chais “knew or should have known” he was deep in a Ponzi scheme when his family investments with Madoff averaged 40% and sometimes soared as high as 300%.
The lawsuit alleged the 82-year-old Chais was a primary beneficiary of the scheme for at least 30 years, allowing his family to withdraw more than $1 billion from their accounts since 1995 – money that belonged to Madoff victims.
Other funds Chais ran for clients like director Steven Spielberg produced steady annual returns of 20% to 24%.
Friday’s suit named Chais and a number of his family members, but Picard’s court-appointed counsel promised there was more to come.
“This is the first of several actions that will be brought against entities that either acted as insiders” with Madoff or his company or benefited from Madoff’s scheme, David Sheehan said.
Chais is also being sued by Eric Roth, the screenwriter of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Roth said he lost his retirement money to Chais, who simply handed the money over to Madoff.
Now they will Chais the money that the other guy Madoff with!