Slavin comments on tactics to recover assets in Madoff mess, Connecticut Post and Connecticut Law Tribune

Richard Slavin is quoted in the Connecticut Post and the Connecticut Law Tribune on issues related to the recovery of assets on behalf of Madoff investors.

It's a labor-intensive job finding out where the money went," Rob Varnon writes in the Connecticut Post. In his article, "Accountants in Demand as Fraud Spikes" Varnon examines the use of accountants and other investigators in fraud cases. In most of these cases, Slavin said he has to hire forensic accountants, even though Slavin himself has a degree in accounting. He foresees a lot of work for securities lawyers and accountants as a result of the Wall Street collapse. With new federal regulations and claims against hedge funds and other types of funds and firms, "it's going to be busy for six years," Slavin predicts.

Doug Malan, writing in the Connecticut Law Tribune, looks at the difficulty victims will have trying to collect directly from Madoff, who was left with little after his scheme collapsed.

Richard Slavin, who chairs Cohen and Wolf's securities practice and manages its Westport office, has received numerous inquiries from people who lost money, and his answer to whether they can recover their losses is a solid "maybe."

Some investors will get relief through the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC), which Congress created to assist investors in failed brokerages. The SIPC can pay out as much as $500,000, but not every investor will qualify.

"SIPC claims are restricted to 'customers' of the broker-dealer," Slavin explained. "If a victim received a monthly statement or confirmations of securities transactions from the broker-dealer, that information would help prove that he was a customer."

But, Slavin continued: "Madoff victims who invested through third parties such as a hedge fund or other intermediary will not be listed as customers of the broker-dealer," he said. "This is the more likely scenario."

Further, he said, not all suits against hedge fund managers and advisers will be successful. He said the success of claims would depend on the nature of the investment and the specific actions of the managers and advisers.

"Some did nothing but follow the orders of their clients to transfer their funds to Madoff or other intermediaries," Slavin said. "Others brought Madoff investments to their clients and then sold them on the idea."

Slavin has a long history of securities litigation and investigating Ponzi schemes, and he said Madoff's network of intermediaries that helped funnel money into the system was broader than any he has previously seen.

Madoff is said to have benefited from the personal relationships he formed with investors through his philanthropic work. "Clearly this guy is so nefarious that he sits on charity boards and cheats the people next to him," Slavin said.

"Accountants in demand as fraud spikes" by Rob Varnon, appeared in the Connecticut Post on January 17, 2009.