Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC began as a penny …show more content…
Madoff was able to persuade thousands of investors to give him their savings for he could provide them with "consistent profits in return." Majority of the money he acquired from this scheme came from hedge funds ("Bernie Madoff : Scamming of America - The $50 Billion Ponzi Scheme "). He used his "inside popularity" to attract hedge fund money. He knew of a lot of wealthy people who looked to get an investment to receive preferable returns. Charity organizations, such as The Justice, Equality, Human dignity, and Tolerance (JEHT) Foundation, Chais Family Foundation, and Picower Foundation, were forced to shut down, because they invested their endowments in Madoff 's firm ("Bernard Madoff"). Norman Braman, the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, had $32 million from his family foundation invested in Madoff 's firm. During his trial (and possibly after), there were investors going up to his house demanding their money that they invested in Madoff. Within a month 's time, Bernard Madoff had become the most hated man (if not in the entire country) in New