Where Did Madoff Hide His Money?

Unless you've been living under a rock, you all know that Bernie Madoff fleeced his clients out of $50 billion. But where have all that money gone?

Robert Chew of TIME Magazine wrote an intriguing article on the possible ways Madoff had squirrel away his loot:

A guilty conscience, billions to play with and oodles of time is the perfect recipe for massive deception, according to Christopher Reich, best-selling author of financial thrillers such as Number Account and the recent Rules of Deception. "Madoff had decades to prepare for this day, and it's likely he's hidden considerable assets," says Reich. "Numbered accounts in Swiss banks are no good today; the Swiss cooperate too much." Instead, a white-collar fraudster like Madoff could create multiple phony investment-advisory businesses in foreign countries, similar to legitimate businesses he's actually working with. Says Reich: "All he has to do is create fake invoices over the years and pay in to those fake companies, then create new phony businesses in other countries, have the monies transferred to them, and then close down the original fake businesses. It's how the mob does it; the money trail is wiped clean."

There is no way investigators will ever find all the Madoff money, the author says. Remember, Enron used some 900 foreign accounts to manage its money. "There just isn't enough manpower to go through all the legal hurdles to track it down," Reich says. The money is there, hidden away, he says, maybe $40 to $80 million, and you can bet some family member is in on it too.

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