Names of Madoff clients revealed

Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and the New York Mets among those swindled in mega-scam.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
sandy koufax 248 88 (photo credit: AP [file])
sandy koufax 248 88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax and the New York Mets have been revealed among those losing money through investing with Bernard Madoff. A court filing released Wednesday showed Koufax was among the clients of Madoff, whom prosecutors claim lost more than $50 billon of investors' money. More than two dozen accounts involving the Mets, their owners and companies affiliated with their owners were listed. A significant amount of the money allegedly lost by Madoff was invested by Jewish individuals and organizations in the United States. Both Madoff and Koufax are Jewish. Among the entities that had accounts with Madoff were Sterling Mets, the Mets Limited Partnership, the New York Mets Foundation and Sterling Doubleday. No amounts were listed in the filing, made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Mets owner Fred Wilpon and his wife, Judy, had accounts individually, as did Fred's brother Richard and Saul Katz, the owner's brother-in-law and team president. Also with accounts were Jeff Wilpon, Fred Wilpon's son and the team's chief operating officer; Valerie Wilpon, Jeff's wife; and Robin Wilpon Wachtler, Jeff's sister. Charitable foundations of Fred and Judy Wilpon, and of Jeff and Valerie Wilpon were listed along with several Wilpon family trusts. Brooklyn Baseball Company, the Mets-controlled company that owns the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones, also was on the list along with Coney Island Baseball. The Mets have not said how much the entities and individuals have lost. Jeff Wilpon said in December the money can be replenished over time as the operating businesses generate profits. "The individual partners lost some money at Madoff. It doesn't affect the Mets. It doesn't affect the Citi Field project. It doesn't affect SNY or any of our other operating businesses," Jeff Wilpon said. Also among the losers was former Mets infielder Tim Teufel, who was hired this week as manager of the team's minor league affiliate St. Lucie from the Florida State League. Madoff's investment structure was a Ponzi scheme, in which early investors' supposed profits are paid out with money invested by later investors.