Rick Raw: Pirate Mad Bart Madoff of Third Avenue–The Quest to Find Madoff’s Hidden Stash

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

The cold steel blade of Pirate Mad Bart Madoff’s sword has ripped open a blood bath of financial destruction on his clients after he was arrested for running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Everyone from movie stars to retirees and best selling authors lost their life savings when Mad Bart’s house of cards collapsed. Inevitably, the slimy old bastard will walk the plank.

But now, the quest to find Mad Bart’s hidden stash, estimated to be $850 million, has begun. Despite Mad Bart’s assurances that he would come clean with his list of assets last week, so far, he’s done nothing to comply.

Mad Bart’s unmitigated gall continues to amaze and piss-off prosecutors when they discovered a pile of signed checks amounting to millions of dollars he intended to send to relatives. Then he mailed his jewelry and precious stones to family members for safe keeping. Despite prosecutors wishes that the Pirate Mad Bart be thrown in jail, the judge presiding over the case has not yet revoked his bail. Why is the judge treating this blood thirsty pirate with kid gloves?

It’s unlikely that Mad Bart will tell authorities where he has hidden his stash unless prosecutors offer him a sweetheart deal–like a complete walk.(That won’t happen.) It’s his only bargaining chip. Victims are clambering to get at least some of their money back. But jolly old Mad Bart scammed so many people they’ll be lucky to get pennies on the dollar. "Aye, I’ll give them nothing," he growled.

The scandal has just touched the tip of the Big Swindle iceberg. Where were the SEC and regulators? How could Mad Bart pull off this fraud for so long? Heads will roll and new regulations will be put in place. Delving into Mad Bart’s complex matrix of illicit dealings will take time to unravel.

Sure, Mad Bart will relinquish his obvious assets such as his brokerage accounts, client names, and offshore and numbered accounts that dealt directly with his investment company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. And he’ll agree to sell his $7 million Park Avenue penthouse, the Palm Beach mansion, the yachts, the French villa, and the Montauk getaway. "Hell, their only trinkets," he said.

However authorities know that this devious sociopath had plenty of time to hide his real worth so his extended family will not have to live in poverty while he sits in jail for the rest of his life. Chances are, if Mad Bart is jailed in an open population of inmates, someone will have him whacked. One phone call from the outside and Mad Bart gets a shank in the heart.

Pirates of yesteryear buried their loot. Today, Mad Bart could have owned his own bank that was funded by nameless wire transfers from and to Switzerland, the Caymans, Liechtenstein. And yes, he could have used hidden safes, safe deposit boxes stuffed with cash, or bearer bonds, which are just like currency with no record of purchase. Relatives could cash them in after the scandal was forgotten.

Justice should be swift for Mad Bart. His head should rest on a spike high above Wall Street as a warning to greedy traders and big time swindlers. But first, Mad Bart should be tortured to give up the location of his stash, and then beheaded. A deal to find the loot is out of the question. He has done too much harm to too many people.