A prominent American financier has been accused of aiding the Bernard Madoff scheme.
Walter Noel, who is one of the most wealthy and socially prominent financiers in Greenwich, Connecticut, was accused on Wednesday of "aiding, abetting, enabling and substantially participating" in Bernard Madoff's legendary Ponzi scheme, according to an ABC News report.
Madoff, a Wall Street trader, was arrested in late 2008 on suspicions that he defrauded investors of an estimated $50 billion in a massive pyramid or Ponzi scheme.
Wednesday’s allegations against Noel came in the form of a complaint filed by the Madoff Bankruptcy Trustee, naming Noel and others who worked with him at the Fairfield-Greenwich investment fund. The complaint states that they collected more than one billion dollars in fees while ignoring evidence of Madoff's fraud for years and lying about their concerns to investors who lost everything in the notorious scam. The bankruptcy trustee claims that Noel and the others were "unjustly enriched" and wants the money in fees, salaries and bonuses returned so it can be distributed to Madoff customers.
Fairfield-Greenwich responded to the complaint in a statement quoted by ABC News, which said the complaint "is replete with false, misleading and rehashed accusations. We are outraged that Mr. Picard has chosen to characterize a number of so-called 'red flags' -- warning signals apparent only in hindsight -- as evidence that Fairfield Greenwich participated in the Madoff fraud."