Jewish Charitable Organizations Accuse Madoff Of Fleecing His Own

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Jewish Charities: Madoff Fleeced His Own

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Dec 19, 2008 8:07 pm US/Eastern

Jewish Charities: Madoff Fleeced His Own

Hadassah Lost 5 Percent Of Its Investments -- Or $90 Million -- In Investment Mogul's Alleged Pyramid Scheme

Congressman Weiner Calls For Revocation Of $10 Mil Bail

Reporting
John Slattery

NEW YORK (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Bernard L Madoff walks down Lexington Ave to his apartment on Dec.17, 2008, in New York City.
Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

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With the losses still being tabulated in the collapse of Bernard Madoff's investment empire, among those hardest hit are charitable organizations.

A New York congressman took a stand Thursday right outside the disgraced money manager's home, and he wants Madoff locked up.

Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-Brooklyn and Queens, called for Madoff's bail to be suspended.

"He should not be trusted with all the ankle bracelets and supervision in the world. He shouldn't be outside a prison cell," Rep. Weiner said.

The 70-year-old investment tycoon, who admitted to losing an astounding $50 billion in a long-running pyramid scheme, is out on $10 million bond, and is under a modified house arrest as the list of swindled charities continues to grow.

Hadassah, the women's Zionist organization of America, had $90 million invested with Madoff's firm, which a source said is more than 5 percent of Hadassah's investments.

Mark Charendoff is head of the Jewish Funders Network, an umbrella group of charities and said the impact is seismic.

"The Jewish philanthropic world is reeling," Charendoff said. "I've never had a week like this before."

Some estimate $1 billion in charitable funds were wiped out. People who operated Jewish foundations are saying that Madoff violated a trust and that he fleeced his own.

"He was there as one of them. He was a peer. You can trust me because we're all part of the club, literally and figuratively," Charendoff said.

One of those that dodged the bullet is the UJA Federation of New York. It chose not to invest with Madoff because of what it calls its stricter financial controls.

So far, at least three charitable foundations have closed or plan to shut down as a result of the Madoff losses.