Feb 5, 2009 9:07 am US/Eastern
Court Document Reveals Names Of Madoff Clients
162-Page List Of Big Money Names
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Bernard L. Madoff walks down Lexington Ave to his apartment on Dec.17, 2008, in New York City.
Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
Eight years after he first tried to warn officials about the Bernie Madoff investment scheme, a financial analyst finally gets to turn his evidence over the SEC on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the names of thousands of ripped off investors are now a matter of public record.
It's an epic 162-page list of big-money names in small type, thousands investing with Bernie Madoff, from Hollywood celebrities to baseball legends.
His potential victims are so numerous, so high-profile and the sums he apparently stole so vast, the financial analyst who blew the whistle on Madoff says he expected a bullet or worse for his trouble.
"If he found out we were tracking him, I did not think I was long for this world," said Harry Markolpolos.
The riveting testimony came on Capitol Hill as a seemingly endless list of victims was released in a court filing in New York.
The 162-page list of big money names includes Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax and developer Larry Silverstein, along with the merely wealthy and thousands of others who hoped Madoff would help them become that way.
The names come from all corners of the country and beyond – Florida, California, and plenty from New York. They include big businesses that might have known better, like Citi Corp., Cablevision, and Bank of America.
It was riveting testimony from Markopolos, who told the House Financial Service subcommittee that no one in the government would listen to his warning eight years ago:
"My team and I tried our best to get the SEC to investigate and shut off the Madoff Ponzi scheme when it was a three to seven billion dollar fraud."
There was clean money apparently mixing with dirty money funneled into Madoff Securities through off-shore accounts.
"When you're that big and that secretive you're going to get money from criminals like the Russian Mob and the drug cartels," said Markopolos.
The list was compiled by AlixPartners LLP, a Dallas company hired as claims agent by the trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
It contains about 13,000 names, including at least six Madoffs and even Bernie Madoff's own attorney.
Authorities say Madoff admits he lost more than $50 billion belonging to investors. Defense lawyers say he has cooperated with authorities to help identify assets.
Click here to see the list.
CBS 2's Lou Young and Magee Hickey contributed to this report.
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