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The Long Island Madoff
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 27, 2009
Modified Jan 27, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 27, 2009
Modified Jan 27, 2009
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The feds say that Long Island investment broker Nicholas Cosmo ran a $370 million Ponzi scheme from his offices in Hauppauge and Queens. And what's more, he "lost $80 million of his clients' money playing the commodities market and paid an additional $55 million in commissions to associates," not to mention personal things ("jewelry, hotel rooms, limousines, payments to his wife and a private baseball league") and the feds say they could only locate $800,000 of the $370 million, according to Newsday. In Cosmo's scam, 1010 WINS explains he told investors they'd "make returns as high as 80 percent a year from interest collected on short-term loans to businesses" but the "returns" they received was "actually money provided by subsequent investors." Yup, that's a Ponzi scheme! Newsday also reports that today, "Worried Agape World investors turned up at the company's offices in Hauppauge and Jackson Heights Monday but found empty offices and a federal raid in progress."
Tagged
Bernard Madoff
fbi
Nicholas Cosmo
ponzi scheme
raid
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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