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Defrauded Madoff Investors Include S.O. Widow
Vivian Levin lost more than half of her savings in Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
By Nate Schweber |
It wasn’t so much losing $6 million to convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff that saddened South Orange resident Vivian Levin. It was losing the ability to give that money away.
Levin, 86, and her late husband, Martin Levin established the Levin Family Foundation, which they invested with Madoff. They donated money to charities in places ranging from South Orange to Palm Beach to Colorado, often to Jewish organizations and synagogues.
“We had the best time giving that money away, enjoying my husband’s hard work,†she said inside her tidy Wyoming Avenue home. “Losing it was like taking another part of my family away.â€
Levin’s story is an example of how one man’s greed affected South Orange, not only because she lost a personal fortune, but because the entire community lost a benefactor. She was listed among the thousands of investors defrauded by Madoff and appears to be the only one who still lives in South Orange.
Levin, who asked not to have her picture taken, said she still grapples with what happened.
“You feel stupid or guilty,†she said. “Like how did we do it?â€
Madoff stole an estimated $65 billion from thousands of investors in what is called the largest investor fraud committed by a single person in history.
Levin said that her husband invested with Madoff in the late 1990s after several of his friends raved about the returns they got on their investments through him. She added that her husband hadn’t invested previously.
“My husband was very, very conservative,†she said. “He never bought into the stock market, but he bought into this after friends of his told him how brilliant this guy is.â€
She added that she herself never spoke to Madoff but, “I knew who he was.â€
Martin Levin amassed his wealth running a construction company in Livingston, Levin said. He passed away in February 2008 at the age of 88. Nine months later, his widow learned about Madoff’s arrest when a friend saw it on the news and called her.
As if losing her husband and her fortune weren’t enough, Levin was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the scandal broke. Though she is in remission now, she believes the stress of the Madoff scandal took its toll on her health.
“I think that getting sick was a result of,†she said before her voice trailed off.
Levin said that not all of her savings are gone, but she did lose more than half. She feels badly for her five children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, who will now not inherit as much as she had planned.
Still, she said she's better off than other friends who also invested with Madoff.
“Some people I know lived very well for 10 years and now they have absolutely nothing,†she said. “And they’re in their 80s.â€
When she learned that Madoff, 71, was sentenced to 150 years in prison, she thought it sent the message that “people shouldn’t do†what he did.
Still, she suspects the scam went further than just Madoff.
“I believe there are many more people guilty,†she said. “He couldn’t have done it by himself.â€
Editor's note: Two other South Orange-based Madoff investors were listed on his client list, which includes some duplicate entries. They couldn't be reached at their last-known addresses and phone numbers.
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