Hadassah Will Pay Back $45 Mil in Madoff ‘Profits’
Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America will pay back $45 million of the money it made in the Bernard Madoff scam.
Hadassah President Nancy Falchuk in a letter Thursday told the organization’s supporters of the settlement reached by the group with the trustee of Madoff’s estate..
The organization, which began investing with Bernard Madoff Securities in 1988 with a $7 million gift, deposited a total of $40 million in its Madoff accounts, and by April 2007 had withdrawn $137 million. The last account statement showed approximately $90 million at the time the fraud was discovered.
The $45 million is half of what Hadassah earned unwittingly in the scam. Hadassah with the settlement avoids a lawsuit by the trustee, Irving Picard, who already has sued a number of individuals, organizations and foundations that made money in the Madoff fraud.
“As painful as it is, this settlement is in the best interest of Hadassah,” Falchuk wrote in the letter. “It allows us to put this chapter behind us, and move forward with our critical life-affirming mission. A charitable mission praised by the trustee for its philanthropic value.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.