SEC seeks to salvage assets of fraudulent NY financier

NEW YORK (AP) — The implosion of a Wall Street firm whose owner is accused in a $50 billion swindle left regulators scrambling to seize control of its assets Friday as dozens of investors worried that they had gone from rich to poor overnight.

The collapse of Bernard L. Madoff’s company came just hours before his arrest Thursday on a single securities-fraud count. Madoff, who allegedly told his employees he was running a “giant Ponzi scheme,” was freed on $10 million bail.

Officials with the Securities and Exchange Commission were due in federal court Friday after a judge put a temporary hold on some assets of the firm until a court-appointed receiver could take control of its finances.

Fear ran deep for investors in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Stephen A. Weiss, who said he had spoken to at least 30 of them, said some entrusted all of their savings to Madoff, who had delivered steady returns for decades.

“They were living comfortable lives and serene retirements, and by the late afternoon, their lives were thrown into a spiral of horror,” Weiss said. “These people are panicked. These people are sorrowful. These people are angry. And many are now destitute.”

According to a criminal complaint filed with the court, Madoff told senior employees of his firm Wednesday that he had blown more than $50 billion with fraudulent financial moves, that he was “finished” and that he had “absolutely nothing.” The FBI said Friday that family members turned Madoff in after he confessed his fraud to them.