Dozens of families in this wealthy resort community fell victim to the massive Ponzi scheme. Losses in this small town alone could reach $1 billion.
ASPEN, Colo. (Fortune) -- Palm Beach and New York may have been hardest hit by the Bernard Madoff scandal, but residents in Aspen, Colo., are quietly tallying up massive losses.
The upscale resort community has a population base of under 6,000, but reports over the past week reveal that dozens of residents have been undone by the $50 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly perpetrated by Madoff.
According to local asset managers and lawyers, these families have lost upwards of $1 billion. Some have seen up to 95% of their life savings disappear in the past few days -- both long-time locals and part-timers are affected.
Involved or not, residents of this wealthy community can talk of nothing else. Everyone, it seems, knows multiple families who were crippled.
One very wealthy couple has already put their house on the market and moved in with their grown kids. Then there's the guy who smelled the recession coming, sold his expensive home here at the height of the market frenzy and, yes, invested it all with Madoff. Today -- no home, no money. Others speak with great pity of the widow who invested her husband's life insurance money with Madoff only to find herself left without a penny.
Though no one was willing to divulge their name due to upcoming legal suits and the fear of being forced to return assets made through Madoff in earlier years, some did share their stories.
One couple who has lived in Aspen for 25 years was able to retire early with their small real estate business and their investments with Madoff. Now, at ages 59 and 64, they'll have to go back to work and sell their home.
"It's shocking," admits the wife, who says they don't have a real grip on things yet. "The hardest part is this guilt feeling we can't shake. But we're tough and we've been through a lot in our life. We'll hunker down and protect what we have."
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/22/news/companies/madoff_aspen.fortune/index.htm:cry:
Excuse me. That was so sad I lost control of myself for a minute.
Skip down to the last paragraph. They are going to try and write the losses off on their TAXES!
:wow: :wow: :hurts:
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