Attorneys recovered $277 million for Madoff victims from the estate of Jewish philanthropist Stanley Chais.
More tawdry news on the Madoff front. Lawsuits have been filed against Stanley Chais and Jeffry Picower for receiving what appear to be suspiciously generous and apparently preferential returns for their investments. An investigative report by ProPublica documents that Picower and his family withdrew an astonishing $5.1 billion from Madoff — more, apparently, than Madoff himself. Chais and Picower had been two of the most generous donors to Jewish causes, as well as a number of non-Jewish causes. (Just four months ago, Israeli non-profits held an event to honor Chais for his generosity through the years).