Madoff Fraud Ensnares Boston Philanthropist Shapiro, Globe Says

By Dan Hart

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Boston philanthropist Carl Shapiro’s charitable foundation lost at least $145 million to Bernard Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme that cost investors $50 billion, the Boston Globe reported, without citing its source.

Shapiro’s wealth had come from the sale of his Kay Windsor Inc. women’s clothing business to VF Corp., then Vanity Fair Corp., in 1971, the newspaper said. He had invested millions of dollars over the years with Bernard L. Madoff Securities, the newspaper said.

Shapiro got involved with Madoff’s investment firm through a son-in-law, Robert Jaffe, who worked for Cohmad Securities Corp., the newspaper said. Jaffe wasn’t able to comment to the Globe, his wife told the newspaper.

Madoff’s attorney, Daniel Horwitz, told the Globe that they were “cooperating fully” with the government investigations. The Shapiros declined to be interviewed by the newspaper.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.