The Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme is hitting both individual investors like Senator Frank Lautenberg, owners of the NY Mets and the Philadelphia Eagles as well as major markets throughout the world. Even one of Steven Spielberg’s charities has been exposed to the Madoff scandal. Read the reports below and see the slideshow:

Clusterstock has a comprehensive list of all of Madoff’s victims:

Word on the identities of Bernie Madoff’s clients / victimes continues to emerge. Please add new names to comments (or via email to hblodget@alleyinsider.com).

HSBC “has emerged as one the largest victims of Bernard Madoff’s alleged fraud with potential exposure of about $1bn to the investment manager’s collapsed venture…HSBC’s exposure stemmed from loans it provided to institutional clients, mainly hedge funds of funds, that wanted to invest with Mr Madoff. HSBC’s direct exposure is believed to be about $1bn in loans provided to clients who invested some $500m of their own funds in Mr Madoff’s venture. Under the typical terms of these deals, if the US authorities recover any funds from Mr Madoff, HSBC will be paid first, with its clients suffering the first tranche of losses.” (FT:)

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Director Steven Spielberg’s charity, Wunderkinder Foundation, “appears to have invested a significant portion of its assets with Mr. Madoff, based on regulatory filings,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
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The AP writes about world markets affected by Madoff:

Europe’s stock markets rose modestly Monday amid renewed hopes for a U.S. auto sector bailout, but the gains were limited by worries about the exposure of financial institutions to an alleged $50 billion fraudulent investment scheme in the U.S.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 34.40 points, or 0.8 percent, at 4,314.75, while Germany’s DAX was 72.11, or 1.6 percent, higher at 4,735.48. The CAC-40 in France rose 20.30 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,233.90.

Europe’s indexes were underperforming those in Asia. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 428.79 points, or 5.2 percent, to 8,664.66 points, and Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index added 288.56, or 2 percent, to 15,046.95 points

The Wall Street Journal writes about high profile individuals who were exposed to Madoff:

Investigators dug through financial records at Bernard Madoff’s investment firm as the list of victims of his alleged Ponzi scheme widened to include real-estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, the foundation of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Sen. Frank Lautenberg and a charity of movie director Steven Spielberg.

…Monday morning in Tokyo, Nomura Holdings Inc. said its exposure to investments with Mr. Madoff totaled 27.5 billion yen ($302 million). A spokesman described …

Over the weekend, The New York Times reported more people involved, including the owners of the New York Mets.

The list of prominent fraud victims grew as well. According to a person familiar with the business of the real estate and publishing magnate Mort Zuckerman, he is also on a list of victims that already included the owners of the New York Mets, a former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and the chairman of GMAC.

Fuente: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/15/bernie-madoff-ponzi-schem_n_151018.html