Walt Noel isn’t sorry and if you lost money with him well, too bad.

A reader transplanted down south sends this delightful link to Noel’s latest attempt to skirt responsibility for screwing all of you:

Last year, as the Madoff litigation landscape was beginning to take shape, burned investors homed in on the so-called “feeder funds” that funneled billions to Bernard Madoff’s investment fund. Chief among the targets: funds managed by Fairfield Greenwich. In April, a trio of plaintiffs firms–Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Wolf Popper, and Lovell Stewart Halebian–filed an amended complaint in Manhattan federal district court, accusing Fairfield and its cofounders, Walter Noel, Jr., Jeffrey Tucker, and Andrés Piedrahita, of committing fraud by passing along $7 billion of their investors’ money to Madoff.

Two days before Christmas, the defendants–many of them represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett–answered the allegations with two motions to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint. The defense briefs and underlying affidavits and exhibits are here and here.

Fairfield Greenwich’s principal argument seems to be that the Fairfield defendants were also duped by Madoff and that they, too, lost money. “It is understandable that investors are exploring all possible avenues to recover their losses,” attorneys for the Greenwich defendants wrote. “But this defectively framed and pled action, which seeks to hold the FG defendants responsible for losses caused by a fraud they neither participated in nor had knowledge of–and that thousands of others, including investors, intermediaries, advisors, banks, auditors, and regulators failed to uncover–is not the proper means to achieve that goal.”

In addition, the defendants list a variety of technical shortcomings in the amended complaint, claiming, for example, that plaintiffs lack standing for some claims and fail to meet pleading requirements for others. The defendants are hoping Judge Victor Marrero not only dismisses the case, but also declines to give the plaintiffs an opportunity to re-plead.

When, a year ago, I began pounding on Noel for his negligence and rapacious soul, I heard from several of his Greenwich friends, all angry that I was picking on such a fine man. As the extent of his profiteering – hundreds of millions of dollars a year – became public, those complaints ceased. He may still have friends in town, but not as many, surely.

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15 Comments

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15 Responses to Walt Noel isn’t sorry and if you lost money with him well, too bad.

  1. Walt

    Dude -
    If I need more friends, I can buy another dog. And what the heck is a Wolf Popper? Sounds kind of dirty. Anyway.
    OFF TO BRUNCH!!!
    Your Pal,
    Walt

  2. Inagua

    Should a dupe get to keep the fees he “earned” for unknowingly duping investors?

  3. Heather

    “I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn’t have enough money for the cab fare. My tux didn’t come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN’T MY FAULT! I SWEAR TO GOD!”

    “Round Hill” Walt

  4. Anonymous

    Inagua:

    You mean “should a duper keep the duping fee”.

    If you’re “in aqua” already, then you were the dupee.

  5. Anonymous

    since the ‘fees’ paid to noel were essentially stolen from madoff investors, noel should have NO right to keep the funds even if [for the sake of argument] we assume that noel knew nothing of the fraud. it’s just like receiving a gold watch from a friend who stole it. you have NO right to the gold watch.

  6. The Duke of Deception

    Seems like now is a good time to bring back public flogging.

  7. Greenwich Ex-Pat

    I smell CLAWBACK!!!!!!

  8. Priapus

    the dog ate my homework.

  9. Inagua

    Anon,

    Your stolen watch analogy works on a moral level, but unfortunately not on a legal level. “Services” paid for with stolen funds are not recoverable. Think of Madoff’s telephone bill.

    The best bet the Noel plantiffs have is the “unjust enrichment” charge. The fact that Walt made the relatively few MA investors whole suggests that he is scared of this.

    Finally, there is the “smell test” — would a jury let this old greedbag and his associates keep a billion dollars for acting as salesmen for a Ponzi scheme? Walt will probably settle.

  10. Arouet

    Ignoring the fraud allegation for a moment, HOW can he get around a breach of contract action?

  11. Inagua

    Arouet,

    I assume by breach of contract you mean failure to perform due diligence. Walt’s response is roughly as follows, “I did due diligence, just like the SEC did, but there was no way to penetrate this sophisticated fraud. How can I be expected to uncover what the regulatory authorities missed?”

  12. Heather

    Whatever we think, and yes, the legal world moves slowly at times….Walt and the fillies have had another year with “the money” with little end in sight. How many more years does Walt have anyway??

  13. Greenwich Ex-Pat

    What I wants ta know is, how many more years does Andres have?

  14. Billy the kid

    Where is Walter???

  15. Heather

    Have Walt and the fillies just disappeared? Are they being spotted up there at all? Where are they hiding?