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It's not just Madoff's friends and family that are being scrutinized for what they knew about the self-confessed con man's $65 billion fraud; now at least eight high-profile investors have the feds asking questions about what they knew, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Philanthropists Jeffrey Picower and Stanly Chais are among those being investigated. Picower, who has known Madoff for decades, stressed last week that he had no knowledge of the Ponzi scheme. But investigators are reported to have found evidence that Picower and Chais may have told Madoff what they expected in return for their investments and how much they expected to find in their accounts. Although such allegations are far from being proved, the claim could begin to, in part, explain why Madoff continued to perpetrate the fraud for the best part of three decades. Irving Picard, the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Madoff's company, also named Picower and Chais in a civil lawsuit last week. Picard alleges Picower and Chais asked for and received better returns than other Madoff clients -- sometimes in the range of 950% a year. Picard claims the two men withdrew more than $6 billion in gains from Madoff funds. He says the two, who have denied the accusations, should have known that a fraud was being perpetrated. Others believed to have come under the prosecution's scrutiny include Carl Shapiro, the clothing magnate who lost $400 million of his own money and $145 million from a charitable foundation bearing his name to Madoff's scheme. How much Schapiro knew about the fraud begs the question: why then would he give Madoff $250 million just weeks before he confessed to his crimes? Meanwhile Picard is also suing Park Avenue hedge fund manager Ezra Merkin. Picard alleges that Merkin funneled investments to Madoff and received millions in fees Merkin knew were the spoils of a massive Ponzi scheme. Picard is suing to recover the $557.8 million Merkin and his Gabriel Capital Corp. withdrew from Madoff's firm since 1995. Picard called Merkin a "sophisticated" money manager who blinded himself to the telltale signs of Madoff's fraud so he could continue raking in millions. The paper said prosecutors have not charged any Madoff investors with criminal wrongdoing. The Journal quotes a lawyer for Chais, 82, and a representative of Shapiro, 96, as saying the men had no knowledge of the fraud. A lawyer for Picower, 67, told the paper his client was not complicit in the scheme and had suffered billions in losses. - Donna Block See story from The Wall Street Journal
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The latest twist in the search for who knew what and when they knew about Bernard Madoff's conniving is likely to inspire a new reality TV series -- "The Biggest Loser" meets "The Real Philanthropists of New York." 
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