Madoff's Money Man Resigns

More fallout from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme: “Financier and money manager J. Ezra Merkin agreed to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's demands to step down as manager of his hedge funds and place them into receivership,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Merkin had funneled $2.4 billion from universities and nonprofits into Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and was charged with civil fraud last month by Cuomo, who said Merkin “betrayed hundreds of investors.” One receiver will manage the some $1 billion in Merkin’s Gabriel and Ariel funds, while another will oversee Ascot, whose entire $1.8 billion in assets was lost to Madoff. The trustee charged with recovering Madoff victims’ money has also sued Merkin for $558 million he withdrew from Madoff’s firm.