The trustee overseeing liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff’s assets sued New York financier and philanthropist J. Ezra Merkin on Thursday, seeking more than $500 million Merkin withdrew from Madoff’s investment business.
… The suit describes Merkin as a “sophisticated investor” who “knew or should have known” that Madoff’s investment firm “was predicated on fraud.”
According to Picard’s suit, Merkin and Madoff had more than a business relationship. The two were also close socially, sitting together on the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University. That relationship should have allowed Merkin access to Madoff’s often secretive operations, the suit contends…
I knew that Yeshiva trustee thing would come back to haunt him…
Merkin is an influential figure, especially in New York, where he was prominent both on Wall Street and in social and charitable circles. While he and Madoff were still riding high, Merkin sat on the boards of such New York institutions as Carnegie Hall and the Fifth Avenue Synagogue. [Er, I think he’s still riding high. He remains President of Fifth Avenue Synagogue.]