[Avodah] Returning Madoff's tainted money

[Richard Wolpoe]

On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 10:24 AM, Saul Stokar <sstokar at gmail.com> wrote:

> Does anyone know of a halachic precedent that would require those who made
> money by investing in Madoff's fund to return some or all of their
> ill-gotten gains to those who lost money? After all, if you purchase a
> stolen item (even unwittengly) from a thief (before ye'ush i.e. before the
> owner abandons hope of getting it back) you have to return the item to its
> owner. Clearly there are differences between a stolen object and an
> investment with one of Madoff's funds (e.g. the investment was given to be
> used (lehotza'a mitna) rather than as a deposit (pikadon)). None the less,
> due to the pyramidal nature of the (alleged) fraud, the profits of the early
> investors come directly from the pockets of the latecomers.
>
> Saul Stokar
> Raanana, Israel
>

Lich'ora keeping Madoff Profits is mamash "choleik im a haganav" albeit
beshoggeig.

-- 
Kol Tuv - Best Regards,
RabbiRichWolpoe at Gmail.com
see: http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/
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