Wolf Haldenstein Files Class Action Suit

Class Action

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, against defendants Beacon Associates Management Corp. ("Beacon Associates"), Joel Danziger, Esq. ("Danziger"), Harris Markhoff, Esq. ("Markhoff"), Ivy Asset Management Corp. ("Ivy Asset Management"), the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation ("BONY"), Friedberg Smith & Co., P.C. ("Friedberg Smith") and John Does 1-100 (collectively, the "Defendants"), on behalf of all persons, other than Defendants, who invested in Beacon Associates LLC I (the "Fund") from August 9, 2004 until the present (the "Class Period"), and derivatively on behalf of the nominal defendant, Beacon Associates LLC I, to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and common law claims, including breach of fiduciary duties.


The case name is styled Cacoulidis v. Beacon Associates Management Corp., et al., 09 civ. 00777. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP website at www.whafh.com.The Complaint asserts that during the Class Period, unbeknownst to investors, Defendant Beacon Associates, the Managing Member of the Fund, concentrated more than half of the Fund's investment capital with entities managed by Bernard Madoff ("Madoff") or Madoff-related entities. Investors who entrusted their savings to Beacon Associates suffered millions in damages as a result of Madoff's fraudulent scheme.This Complaint alleges that Defendants failed to perform the necessary due diligence that they were being compensated to perform as investment advisors, managers and fiduciaries, and proximately caused millions of dollars in losses. Defendants either knew or should have known that the Fund's assets were employed as part of a massive Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Madoff. Defendants ignored numerous red flags, including the abnormally high and stable positive investment results reportedly achieved by Madoff regardless of market conditions; inconsistencies between Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC's ("BMIS") publicly available financial information concerning its assets and the purported amounts that Madoff managed for clients; and the fact that BMIS was audited by a small, obscure accounting firm.


Additionally, Defendants Beacon Associates, Danziger and Markhoff issued an Offering Memorandum that was false and misleading because it falsely stated that the Fund's assets would be invested in a number of investment vehicles, including a "Large Cap Strategy adopted by Beacon Associates itself, when in reality, unbeknownst to investors, the vast majority of the assets in the Fund were invested in Madoff-controlled entities. The Offering Memorandum also falsely stated that Beacon Associates would monitor the Fund's performance as well as the performance of each third party manager of the Fund's assets, to ensure that they adhered to their stated investment objectives. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants Beacon Associates, Danziger, Markhoff, and Ivy Asset Management, with no or inadequate due diligence or oversight, abdicated their responsibilities and entrusted the Fund's assets to Madoff-run investment vehicles. Plaintiffs further allege that Defendant Friedberg Smith failed to conduct a proper audit of the Fund's financial statements.

Related listings

  • Court rules Catholic school wrongfully fired gay substitute

    Court rules Catholic school wrongfully fired gay substitute

    Class Action 09/06/2021

    A gay substitute teacher was wrongfully fired by a Roman Catholic school in North Carolina after he announced in 2014 on social media that he was going to marry his longtime partner, a federal judge has ruled.   U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn r...

  • Capitol stormer who wore ‘I Was There’ shirt to stay in jail

    Capitol stormer who wore ‘I Was There’ shirt to stay in jail

    Class Action 04/02/2021

    A federal judge refused Thursday to set bail for a Texas man who was wearing a T-shirt that said, “I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021,” when he was arrested on charges he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.U.S. Judge Carl Nicho...

  • Court’s Conservatives Seem to Back Trump on Immigration

    Court’s Conservatives Seem to Back Trump on Immigration

    Class Action 11/13/2019

    The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seems prepared to allow the Trump administration to end a program that allows some immigrants to work legally in the United States and protects them from deportation.There did not appear to be any suppo...

Illinois Work Injury Lawyers – Krol, Bongiorno & Given, LTD.

Accidents in the workplace are often caused by unsafe work conditions arising from ignoring safety rules, overlooking maintenance or other negligence of those in management. While we are one of the largest firms in Illinois dedicated solely to the representation of injured workers, we pride ourselves on the personal, one-on-one approach we deliver to each client.

Work accidents can cause serious injuries and sometimes permanent damage. Some extremely serious work injuries can permanently hinder a person’s ability to get around and continue their daily duties. Factors that affect one’s quality of life such as place of work, relationships with friends and family, and social standing can all be taken away quickly by a work injury. Although, you may not be able to recover all of your losses, you may be entitled to compensation as a result of your work injury. Krol, Bongiorno & Given, LTD. provides informed advocacy in all kinds of workers’ compensation claims, including:

• Injuries to the back and neck, including severe spinal cord injuries
• Serious head injuries
• Heart problems resulting from workplace activities
• Injuries to the knees, elbows, shoulders and other joints
• Injuries caused by repetitive movements

For Illinois Workers’ Compensation claims, you will ALWAYS cheat yourself if you do not hire an experienced attorney. When you hire Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd, you will have someone to guide you through the process, and when it is time to settle, we will add value to your case IN EXCESS of our fee. In the last few years, employers and insurance carriers have sought to advance the argument that when you settle a case without an attorney, your already low settlement should be further reduced by 20% so that you do not get a “windfall.” Representing yourself in Illinois is a lose-lose proposition.