Thursday, December 25, 2008

The GMAC-Madoff Connection

I was certainly surprised to see it, and yet, it explains so much.

Related:
The Madoff Cover-Up Begins

"NYU sues hedge fund manager for investment losses with Madoff" by Reuters | December 25, 2008

NEW YORK - Hedge fund executive Ezra Merkin has been sued again for entrusting investments to confessed swindler Bernard Madoff, this time by New York University, which said it lost about $24 million.

The lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court is among a series against Merkin and other funds during the past week as investors seek to recover losses from the purported $50 billion Madoff scandal that would be Wall Street's biggest fraud....

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Merkin, who is chairman of GMAC LLC, is named in the lawsuit brought by NYU, along with his Gabriel Capital LP fund and Ariel Fund Ltd.

Please REMEMBER THAT!

GMAC is the finance business owned by General Motors Corp., and private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, and yesterday received Federal Reserve approval to convert to a bank holding company.

Amazing, isn't it?

"The funds 'feeding' money to Madoff, including Ariel, made a conscious effort to conceal Madoff's involvement from their own investors," the NYU lawsuit said. "This concealment was a requirement dictated by Madoff, which was agreed to by Merkin and other 'feeder' funds."

I want to know MORE about the "feeder funds," MSM, not just an opaque paragraph!

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Oh, so the Merkin connection makes sense of this:

"Fed OK's GMAC to be bank" by Bloomberg News | December 25, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO - GMAC LLC won Federal Reserve approval to become a bank holding company, enabling the auto lender to tap the Treasury's $700 billion bailout fund and help keep General Motors Corp. afloat.

The Fed is using emergency powers to grant GMAC's request because of the "unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets," according to a statement today. To comply with rules about who can own a bank, GMAC's majority owner Cerberus Capital Management LP agreed to distribute its stake to its investors and minority owner GM will cede all control.

That means GMAC was just NATIONALIZED, folks! Sig Heil!!!!

Saving GMAC may improve the chances of salvaging GM, which received $9.4 billion in US loans this month to stave off collapse at least until January.

And who knows how much more later!

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