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This is the nineteenth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing some issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff (“Madoff”). Installments 3 through 8, Installment 10 and Installments 14 through 18 of this series focused on the specific concerns of charities that were victims of Madoff and similar schemes. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors to have their positions evaluated.

Monday, November 16, 2009 is a critical day for Section 501(c)(3) public charities and private foundations with a calendar fiscal year that invested with Madoff. As a matter of fact, it is a critical day for all Section 501(c)(3) charitable organizations with a calendar fiscal year. It is the final day on which such public charities and private foundations can file their Forms 990 and 990-PF, respectively, with the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) for calendar year 2008 on a timely basis after using both of the two potentially available extension periods. A fling after that date is delinquent and can lead to penalties by the IRS.

While this blog series has strongly advocated filings with the IRS by charitable organizations for 2008 as early as possible, many have delayed their filings until the deadline. A number of factors may have led to this approach, including the following:

1. The new Form 990 for 2008 added probing questions on governance, executive compensation, charitable mission, policies, etc., which required many of the charities to institute or update protocols and procedures.

2. The accounting and auditing firms that assist charities in preparing Forms 990 and 990-PF were under great pressure to deal with the complexities of the new Forms and the financial challenges facing many charities.

3. During 2008 many charities suffered substantial losses in endowment fund values and declines in fundraising that led some of them to delay potentially embarrassing disclosures to the public as long as possible.

4. A number of those charities that invested with Madoff and similar alleged Ponzi schemes had hoped that the IRS would give greater guidance on the uncertainties in treatment of losses and distributions in their filings for 2008 and prior years.

5. Charities that have invested with Madoff or suffered large losses during 2008 may have wanted to see how other Forms 990 and 990-PF filers that filed earlier in the year with the IRS treated the subjects in their financial statements and textual materials.

6. Even charities that did not suffer losses in 2008 may have wanted to see how other Forms 990 and 990-PF filers that filed earlier treated subjects such as description of mission, conflicts of interest and whistleblower policies, executive compensation and other potentially sensitive new areas of disclosure.

Over the course of the next several months it will be interesting and informative to visit Guidestar to review and analyze the 2008 Form 990 and 990-PF filings as they are posted. This blog series will continue to monitor and report on such developments.

[To be continued in Installment 20]
 

(With appreciation to Michael J. Kline, Esq., for contributing this entry and for his on-going analysis of the concerns of Madoff stakeholders)

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This is the eighteenth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing some issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff (“Madoff”). Installments 3 through 8, Installment 10 and Installments 14 through 17 of this series focused on the specific concerns of charities that were victims of Madoff and similar schemes. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors to have their positions evaluated.

On October 27, 2009, Irving Picard, the trustee in the Madoff liquidation proceeding under the Securities Investor Protection Act (the “Madoff Proceeding”), together with Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) President Stephen Harbeck, held a telephone briefing with reporters on progress to date of the Madoff Proceeding. During the course of his prepared remarks, Mr. Picard did not discuss efforts in the Madoff Proceeding to “clawback,” that is, recover assets from Madoff investors who received more in cash distributions than they invested with him.

During the course of the questioning by reporters, the “clawback” issue was raised and the following response was given by Mr. Picard:

At the moment, as I indicated of the accounts that were active at the end of last December, there were 2,568 accounts that received more than was deposited. . . . That’s an area that we are looking at. We’re not going to be suing people who don’t have money. We’re not going to be able to collect. We’re not going to sue people where we become familiar with the fact that they have hardships, medical problems, losing their homes and other things like that. No final decisions have been made; it’s a matter that again, over a period of the next six to eight or nine months, we’re going to be taking a very close look and, quite frankly, those will be looked at virtually on an individual basis before we make some final decisions. . . . if we determine that that’s a matter that we’re going to pursue, then we will pursue them for what we believe is the appropriate amount that we should be seeking from them.

It is noteworthy that Mr. Picard did not address in his response the widely-publicized “profits” from investing with Madoff that have been reported for charities like Hadassah, as discussed in Installment 14 of this series.  

Mr. Picard’s response may be compared to the report by Diana B. Henriques on May 28, 2009 in The New York Times that “[t]here is the widespread fear among some — unfounded, Mr. Picard says — that he will sue struggling charities or people of limited means for money they withdrew in the past but no longer have.”

Has Picard now evidenced by his silence a subtle shift from his earlier position with respect to not pursuing ‘struggling charities” that made profits from investing with Madoff? The October 29,2009 issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy has disclosed that Hadassah suffered a decline of almost 50% in donations during 2008 to just over $85 million as compared to the 2007 level. Does that loss in revenues qualify Hadassah to be exonerated from clawback as a “struggling charity” under Mr. Picard’s earlier position? A significant portion of the decline in Hadassah donations may be due to the economy generally. However, ironically, some of the decline may be attributable to the adverse publicity for Hadassah from having invested with Madoff. Moreover, a number of its major donors may have incurred heavy losses with Madoff and could not maintain their contributions to Hadassah.

As the Madoff Proceeding continues to unfold, these issues should become clearer.

[To be continued in Installment 19]
 

(With appreciation to Michael J. Kline, Esq., for contributing this entry and for his on-going analysis of the concerns of Madoff stakeholders)

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This is the seventeenth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing some of the issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff (“Madoff”). Installments 3 through 8, Installment 10 and Installments 14 through 16 of this series focused on the specific concerns of charities that were victims of Madoff and similar schemes. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors to have their positions evaluated.

On October 21, 2009, an article in The New York Times by Ken Belson and Richard Sandomir disclosed that a Madoff bankruptcy proceeding report had contradicted earlier information about large losses with Madoff purportedly suffered by the New York Mets and their owners, the Wilpon family. The article states that the report shows that

Mets LP, one of the team’s financial arms, withdrew $570.5 million from two accounts it held with Madoff’s company, $47.8 million more than it put in. The accounts were part of a list of more than 30 in which more money was withdrawn than was deposited with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. As a result, Mets LP and the others were deemed “net winners” ineligible for compensation and potentially liable to being sued by Irving H. Picard, the court-appointed liquidator who is trying to recover money lost in Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme. A spokesman for Picard declined to comment.

Thus the Mets and the Wilpon family may become the subject of “clawback” by Mr. Picard and end up losers, especially if they have paid now-unrecoverable federal and state income taxes on the illusory Madoff “gains.” This situation can be contrasted to the position stated by Picard with respect to seeking recovery from charities. As reported in Installment 16 of this blog series http://whitecollarcrime.foxrothschild.com/, Diana B. Henriques wrote on May 28, 2009 in The New York Times that “[t]here is the widespread fear among some — unfounded, Mr. [Irving] Picard [the trustee in the Madoff bankruptcy proceeding] says — that he will sue struggling charities or people of limited means for money they withdrew in the past but no longer have.”

Installment 14 of this blog series discussed reports of large profits by Hadassah from its investments with Madoff. Will Picard choose to pursue the Mets and the Wilpon family while passing on Hadassah? All charities, especially those providing social services like Hadassah, are “struggling” with materially reduced contributions because of the economy, increased demands by individuals who are unemployed and suffering financially, losses in endowment funds from the substantial market declines and increased regulatory activity.

While the position earlier stated by Picard as to charities may be humanitarian and emotionally appealing, there is little basis in the law for the disparity in treatment between charities and for-profit entities. This inequality of approach will more likely than not lead to protracted litigation and uncertainty in the Madoff matter.

[To be continued in Installment 18]
 

(With appreciation to Michael J. Kline, Esq., for contributing this entry and for his on-going analysis of the concerns of Madoff stakeholders)

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This is the sixteenth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing some of the issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff (“Madoff”). Installments 3 through 8 and Installments 10, 14 and 15 of this series focused on the specific concerns of charities that were victims of Madoff and similar schemes. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors promptly to have their positions evaluated.

On September 22, 2009, the Associated Press reported that federal prosecutors had disclosed in New York that approximately 50% of the Madoff stakeholders had withdrawn more money than they invested with him and about 50% had invested more money than they had withdrawn. There have been many reports that among those stakeholders which received more in distributions from Madoff than they invested were charities. Installment 14 of this blog series reported on allegations that Hadassah received $40 million more in distributions from Madoff than they had invested with him.

Diana B. Henriques wrote an article on May 28, 2009 in The New York Times  entitled “It’s Thankless, but He Decides Madoff Claims,” in which Ms. Henriques reported that “[t]here is the widespread fear among some — unfounded, Mr. [Irving] Picard [the trustee in the Madoff bankruptcy proceeding] says — that he will sue struggling charities or people of limited means for money they withdrew in the past but no longer have.”

The May statement by Mr. Picard now presents him with a fascinating quantitative and qualitative dilemma and conundrum. All charities, especially those providing social services like Hadassah, are “struggling” with materially reduced contributions because of the economy, increased demands by individuals who are unemployed and suffering financially, losses in endowment funds from the substantial market declines and increased regulatory activity.

While some smaller charities have already gone out of business from the Madoff fiasco, others large organizations like Hadassah still have meaningful endowment funds, even if depleted. The criteria that Mr. Picard will use to separate “struggling” charities and “people of limited means” from whom he will seek funds and those from whom he will not raises fundamental questions of fairness, size relative value that will likely lead to much more controversy.

[To be continued in Installment 17]
 

(With appreciation to Michael J. Kline, Esq., for contributing this entry and for his on-going analysis of the concerns of Madoff stakeholders)

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This is the fifteenth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing some of the issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff (“Bernard”). Installments 3 through 8 and Installments 10 and 14 of this series focused on the specific concerns of charities that were victims of Madoff and similar schemes. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors promptly to have their positions evaluated.

A Cliffview Pilot report on September 15, 2009 by Jerry DeMarco reported that U.S. District Judge Stanley Chesler in Newark declined to dismiss a lawsuit brought by two children of, and the private charitable foundation (the “Foundation”) formed by, Senator Frank Lautenberg, who was its President. The claims in the lawsuit include allegations that Peter Madoff violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by failing to disclose to investors that the company of his brother Bernard was engaged in a fraud. The plaintiffs are claiming losses aggregating almost $9 million.

Concerns about the profound financial and other impacts on charities, both public and private, from investments with Bernard were published soon after the Bernard scandal became public in December 2008. See, for example, “Charities Now Seek Bankruptcy Protection,” by Stephanie Strom in The New York Times on February 20, 2009.

The progress of the lawsuit brought by the Foundation raises several interesting points, some of which were discussed in previous Installments of this blog series.

First, it does appear that actions brought against other members of the Madoff family than Bernard may bear some fruit, separate and apart from the much-publicized Bernard bankruptcy proceedings in New York. Query whether the preliminary success of the Foundation will spur other stakeholders to sue members of the Madoff family, thereby exposing them to the potential for very large claims that could precipitate bankruptcy filings for them as well.

Second, as was discussed in an earlier Installment, private foundations such as the Foundation and their managers have potential liability for excise taxes that may be levied by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for improvident investing. Query whether success in the lawsuit would generate a compelling argument for the Foundation and its managers for avoidance of the excise taxes because of the alleged securities fraud. Alternatively, if the lawsuit is lost by the Foundation, does it increase the potential for success by the IRS in possibly imposing excise taxes on the Foundation and its managers?

Third, a check of the charity information website Guidestar indicates that the Form 990-PF of the Foundation for the 2007 calendar year was filed with the IRS on August 15, 2008. The Form 990-PF for the Foundation for 2008 has not yet been posted on Guidestar. The nature and extent of disclosures that will be made regarding the Foundation in its 2008 Form 990-PF should be illuminating about the litigation, financial status and contingencies respecting the Foundation.

[To be continued in Installment 16]
 

(With appreciation to Michael J. Kline, Esq., for contributing this entry and for his on-going analysis of the concerns of Madoff stakeholders)

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This is the fourteenth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing some of the issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff. Installments 3 through 8 and Installment 10 of this series focused on the specific concerns of charities that were victims of Madoff and similar schemes. It generally advocated that every charity should respond pro-actively in the wake of the Madoff scandal and the current adverse economic climate. Such action should include a filing of its Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) as promptly as practicable with appropriate disclosures, whether or not it was a Madoff stakeholder itself. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors promptly to have their positions evaluated. 

This Installment 14 is designed to compare and contrast the most recent Forms 990 filed with the IRS for fiscal 2008 by two of the most significant and respected charities that invested with Madoff: Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (“Hadassah”) and Yeshiva University (“Yeshiva”). While the missions of Hadassah and Yeshiva (collectively, the “Charities”) are different, they provide a basis for comparison, and share as part of their missions the advancement of education and Jewish awareness in the United States and Israel. For disclosure purposes, readers are advised that the spouse of the author of this blog post has been a Life Member of Hadassah for many years.

Concerns about profound financial and other impacts on these Charities from their investments with Madoff were published soon after the Madoff scandal became public in December 2008.  For example, an article by Stewart Ain entitled “Hadassah Reveals $130 Million Windfall from Madoff,” was published in The Jewish Week on January 14, 2009 (the “Ain Article”). A more recent article on Hadassah and its involvement with Madoff that contains some is “Woman Tells of Affair with Madoff in New Book,” by Diana B. Henriques and Stephanie Strom, published in The New York Times on August 13, 2009 (the “Henriques/Strom Article”). An article about the impact of Madoff on Yeshiva entitled “Betrayed by Madoff, Yeshiva U. Adds a Lesson,” by Javier C. Hernandez was published in The New York Times on December, 23, 2008 (the “Hernandez Article”). 

Several weeks ago, the charity information website GuideStar posted the Hadassah Form 990 for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2008 (the “2007 Hadassah Form 990”). This past weekend the Website posted the Yeshiva Form 990 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008 (the “2007 Yeshiva Form 990” and collectively with the 2007 Hadassah Form 990, the “2007 Forms 990”).

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This blog series has already covered the newly-designed Form 990 for 2008 (the “2008 Form 990”) that requires 501(c)(3) entities to provide greatly expanded disclosure through answering questions that require “yes” or ‘no” responses about governance and business operations of charities. Questions that are answered “no” require explanation in the 2008 Form 990.

One of the questions for each of the Charities that would have required a response in the 2008 Form 990 (but not the 2007 Forms 990 recently filed with the IRS by the Charities) is whether the respective Board of Trustees and Audit Committee reviewed the 2007 Form 990 prior to its filing with the IRS. Because both Hadassah and Yeshiva have fiscal years other than the calendar year, they were able to use the old Form 990 for 2007. 

Some circumstances differ, and some are similar, for the Charities. As will be shown in the table below, it is my view that the 2007 Yeshiva  Form 990 has significantly greater disclosure and transparency relative to Madoff than the 2007 Hadassah Form 990. Either of the divergent approaches to disclosure chosen by each of the Charities in its 2007 Forms 990 may be compliant and supportable and were reviewed by the same “Big Four” accounting firm. However, this blog series has strongly recommended that early and complete transparency is advisable to maximize the value of utilizing the Form 990 in rebuilding public confidence in a charity that was affected by Madoff. Earlier disclosure will also get the “bad news” out into the open faster and allow the charity to move on. I believe that Yeshiva has been more successful than Hadassah in using its 2007 Form 990 for this purpose. 

The following table will highlight a comparison of some of the relevant factors drawn from the respective 2007 Forms 990 of the Charities that led to the views of the author. 

A COMPARISON OF HADASSAH AND YESHIVA 2007 FORMS 990

(Information in the Hadassah and Yeshiva columns is from their respective 2007 Form 990 unless otherwise noted; readers may access the 2007 Forms 990 by visiting GuideStar and completing a free online registration. Other noted sources in the table have the Internet links designated in the foregoing article.)

[To be continued in Installment 15]

(With appreciation to Michael J. Kline, Esq., for contributing this entry and for his on-going analysis of the concerns of Madoff stakeholders)

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