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Add ?Believers in a Mystical Form of Islam? to the List of Madoff Victims

By Ashby Jones

We all know that Bernie Madoff extensively borrowed, cheated, stole — what have you — from dozens upon dozens of Jewish people as well as a handful of Jewish organizations. He also, if the contents of a recent book are to be believed, had an affair with the former chief financial officer of Hadassah, a large Jewish women’s organization that invested heavily with him.

But did you know — we didn’t — that another religious group was sucker-punched by Madoff? According to a Boston Globe article out Thursday, the Sufis, who practice a mystical form of Islam, entrusted millions to a California lawyer, Richard Glantz, who is a member of the Sufi community. Glantz then placed their money with Madoff.

Glantz, a lawyer in Marin County, Calif., is also chairman and treasurer of the Hope Project, an India-based nonprofit founded by a Sufi teacher. According to the Globe story, Glantz ran two large funds for friends and family, some of which was invested with Madoff.

"We're devastated,'' said Saphira Linden, a Jamaica Plain Sufi teacher and drama therapist. Linden lost her Omega Theater program's $76,000 endowment to Madoff, as well as her personal savings.

The Sufi teachings and beliefs may have contributed to the situation, according to the Globe:

A group whose traditions include embracing all religions, woodsy retreats, and meditative dancing, Sufis may have been overly trusting of Madoff, they now say, and unsophisticated about investing.

Added Linden: “I really believe it's a wake-up call.”

Alima Lucinski, executive director of the Sufi Order International, North America, said Glantz assured the organization as recently as last September that it was on track to make money because Madoff had its investments in US Treasuries. The New Lebanon, N.Y., group was invested in one of Glantz’s funds, which had a large portion of its estimated $17 million with Madoff.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 27, 2009 (boomark / email).