Published February 6, 2009

Burnt by Madoff, seething in Bedok

Singapore resident recounts how he got taken in by the master swindler

By JAMIE LEE

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(SINGAPORE) The link between Bedok and Bernard Madoff's charmed circle appears far-fetched - but Joseph Murray has been a part of both. He has also paid the price.

The Murrays: 'I was watching CNBC when I saw Madoff walk out in handcuffs. I can tell you, I let out a few expletives,' says Mr Murray

He recalls how, in 1993, he sat at Madoff's Third Avenue office in New York for about 35 minutes and listened to the now-known swindler talk.

And when Mr Murray asked to find out more about the company after 'vague' description on how he made his money, the understated 'Wall Street superstar' - as Mr Murray put it - tried to brush him off.

'He said, 'Look I'm a busy guy, there are a lot of people who want to invest with me, you're not forced to do so, in fact if you're reluctant, go home and think about it. But I'm doing you a favour because I normally do not entertain investments under a million dollars',' Mr Murray told BT.

The only Singapore resident in the 163-page list of Madoff's customers, Mr Murray said that Madoff pointed to his brother and sons and said his family members have all their money tied to the firm.

That sealed the deal for Mr Murray, who had earlier been invested with Madoff indirectly through another company. The 53-year- old American, now a Singapore permanent resident, signed up with Madoff on the spot.

'It was almost a favour for Madoff to take his money as small investors. It was like 'please accept our money',' Mr Murray's wife, Josephine, told BT when visited at their condominium in the east yesterday evening.

But how fortunes have turned for Mr Murray, who found out about two weeks before Christmas that Madoff was running a massive Ponzi scheme that ran into losses of about US$50 billion.

'I was watching CNBC when I saw Madoff walk out in handcuffs,' said the former managing director of a multinational company. 'I can tell you, I let out a few expletives.'

'I was in depression for the next two to three days,' said Mr Murray, who declined to reveal how much he had lost, but said it was close to the $500,000 insurance limit under the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). He is now trying to claim insurance through the SIPC.

Mr Murray now runs his voice recording studio and has done voice-overs for advertisements by Carlsberg, Panasonic and the Singapore Air Force.

In an ironic twist, Mr Murray said that he had an uneasy feeling about his investment with Madoff - which had been giving him annualised returns of around 11 per cent - a few months before news of the scam broke out.

'Oddly enough, I entertained thoughts of pulling out,' said Mr Murray, adding that the complex methods in which Madoff invested with made it an utter 'nightmare' for Mr Murray's accountant to make tax filings.

But when the financial crisis hit and the investment with Madoff came back with decent returns in comparison, Mr Murray decided not to withdraw his investments.

Despite that wrong move, Mr Murray is comforted that with his diversified portfolio, he hadn't lost all his money to the scam and describes his soured investment as a 'grain of sand on the beach'.

But his 84-year-old mother isn't so lucky - she had also put her entire life savings with Madoff. 'She was devastated,' said Mr Murray, adding that he and his brother are now trying to help with her finances.

The investment was meant to be used to pay a property in the States, Mrs Murray said. Prior to the stunning revelation about the Madoff scam, the family had been looking at houses in Dallas, Texas, for about six months and had plans to move back to America in about two years' time.

Soon after the news broke, the parents of two young children told their kids about how money was lost in the scam and that plans to move to a new home in the States may be put on hold.

Their elder son offered his best solution. 'He said, 'Don't worry daddy. I'll write to Santa Claus and ask him to return your money.' Mrs Murray said.