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The Jewish Chronicle

Analysis: It affects us, too

December 18, 2008 16:04

By

Jenni Frazer,

Jenni Frazer

1 min read

The more the news filters through from America as to the extent of the alleged Madoff swindle, the louder the sighs of unashamed relief from this side of the pond.

Phew, goes the thinking; thank heavens we're not affected. Thank goodness we haven’t entrusted our family foundation funds to the wily Mr Madoff, a man of such moral rectitude that even his own sons, poor dupes, refused to counter-sign his conditions of bail.

It puts one in mind of the late and largely unlamented Robert Maxwell, another personable arm-twister who robbed his newspaper pension funds blind, juggled his finances near to collapse and, yes, kept his own two sons in the dark.

But the scale and reach of the alleged Madoff fraud puts Maxwell in the shade. The anger with Madoff, and the impact of the already disastrous economic situation in the United States, has, say commentators, panicked people who have been reliable donors in the past.