Somehow I missed the final list of Bernie's forfeited assets signed off by Judge Chin on 6/26/09. To me, the most interesting items on it are the loans and promissory notes made in favor of Bernie and/or Ruth.

In an earlier post, I speculated that Eric and Shana Madoff Swanson's $2.8 million East Hampton house purchased in 6/08 had been paid for out of the proceeds from Peter Madoff's $9 million loan from Bernie on 12/12/07. 

Not so. Item 20(r) on the list is a $2.8 million transfer of funds from Bernie to Marion Madoff who is Peter's wife and Shana's mother: 

r. A May 8, 2008 loan or other transfer of funds in the amount of $2,800,000 from Bernard L. Madoff to Marion Madoff;

Since the Swansons bought the East Hampton house the very next month, it's a safe bet Marion gave them the money to buy it. 

The Swansons were married on 9/27/07 and the SEC's investigation of Bernie wrapped up two months later on 11/27/07.  Bernie forking over $2.8 million to his niece and her husband, the former SEC investigator, less than six months later wouldn't have been such a great idea.

The East Hampton house will probably be siezed by the Feds within the next few months so this summer is the last opportunity for the Swansons to enjoy it. (The buzz has Shana under indictment very soon.)

The $9 million loan to Peter Madoff appears to be related to real estate investments. From the list:

o. A December 12, 2007 unsecured promissory note for $9,000,000 executed by Peter Madoff in favor of Bernard L. Madoff, due December 31, 2012, at 4.13% interest and all property traceable thereto, including a 50% interest in BDG Yaphank, LLC, and a 50% interest in BDG Leroy, LLC, held in the name of Peter Madoff and/or Essex Realty Development, LLC;

The BDG is Blumenthal Development Group, owned by Ed Blumenthal, a Madoff customer who thought he was a close friend of Bernie's. BDG Yaphank was registered in 12/05 and BDG Leroy in 10/07.

Essex Realty Development was registered in NY on 12/07 to Peter Madoff's home address but no registered agent was listed. WhitePages.com lists Craig Kugel, a former BMIS employee, as the contact for Essex.

Kugel was in the news a few months ago because he cosigned a lease for Bernie's 2009 Mercedes as a BMIS director at Peter Madoff's behest. Kugel then tried to get out of paying $58k in expenses related to the lease when BMIS went under.

According to the list, Bernie loaned $1.5 million to Kugel's father. David, a long time BMIS employee, in 2003 and then loaned him another million dollars in in 8/07.

(Craig Kugel owns the inactive domain, Kugel.net, and 22 other sites. He blocked access to Kugel.net and his wife's domain, litmanpllc.com, with robot.txts in the internet archives.) 

In 6/08, Bernie loaned or transferred $780k to Eric Lipken, a 17th floor employee whose father, Irwin, was an accountant at BMIS for many years. 

In the same month, Bernie gave $475k to JoAnn Crupi, another 17th floor employee. In 10/08, Bernie gave Crupi $2.2 million more which she used to buy a house in an exclusive community on the Jersey Shore. Interesting that the Feds did not put Crupi's $2.8 million on the list of assets to be forfeited.   

Bernie loaned a total of $3.1 million to the Madoff Family Fund LLC in 2004 and 2005. The company was registered in NY in 4/01 and changed its name to the Madoff Family LLC in 2005.  The company is distinct from the Madoff Family Foundation and its purpose is not clear.  

In 2004, Bernie loaned $1 million to Steven [Stephen] Raven, CEO of Madoff Securities International Limited in London. Sometime in or after 2005, he loaned Raven another $300k. After Bernie's arrest, Raven was quick to issue a statement in which he claimed MSIL had nothing to do with BMIS despite the fact that it charged BMIS for millions of dollars in "research" fees and at least $250 million was transferred in and out of BMIS to MSIL in 2008.

One intriguing item on the list is a $1 million loan made to Allan Gary Klesch in 1999. In another post, a reader recently commented  that Klesch's name is mentioned three times in a 7/09 Tatler article about MSIL (not available online). Klesch, an ex-patriate investor living in London, made his name by buying into distressed European companies in the '80s. His company, Klesch & Co., now focuses on commodites-related businesses.