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Arpad Busson tells of £230m shock
Evening Standard17.12.08
FINANCIER Arpad Busson today spoke of his astonishment after losing millions of dollars at the hands of alleged fraudster Bernard Madoff.
The businessman, known as Arki and who is engaged to actress Uma Thurman, said his $11.5 billion group of Swiss hedge funds, EIMs had around $230 million invested with Madoff, who is accused of a $50 billion fraud.
Speaking to the New York Post, Mr Busson, 45, said: "He seemed like a very experienced, knowledgeable and trustworthy man, like the best con artists always are.
"What's mind-boggling is the amount of assets and the amount of time he was doing it. Catching a fraud like this is practically impossible."
Reader views (3)
i personally do not have an ounce of sypathy for these so called profiteers too bad it was not 100 bil
- Tony, connecticut usa
I find Arpad Busson’s comments laughable and inexcusable. I can understand the wealthy, Palm Beach retiree getting taken in. But certainly not professional, institutional investors like him. There were many professional investors who performed “logic” or “reasonableness” tests on Madoff’s trading methods and backed away. I wonder whether any of the professional investors who invested actually carried site visits to Madoff’s premises to see how the front and back offices functioned either prior to or during an investment. And finally, some questions for Mr. Busson. Did your office maintain a contact file for Madoff for duration of the business relationship? Do you have any notes showing the justification for investing with Madoff in the first place?
- Paul Darcy, London, England
Dear Arki, if you did any thorough due diligence before making this investment you would not have made such a disastrous decision for your clients. Be a gentleman and accept responsibility for not doing your job properly. I doubt you did any due diligence, you just followed the crowd chasing down returns which should have seemed to good to be true to someone of your experience.
- Sam, London
