BERNIE..... I HARDLY KNEW YE!

"DON'T BE LEFT OUT!!!"

"GET THE BIGGEST RETURNS OF YOUR LIFE"

"EARN 10% RETURN ON YOUR $$$---THE ONLY PLACE IN THE WORLD WHERE YOU CAN !!!!"

"COME AND GET IT!!!"

It was Christmas Eve and I was thinking about my ex (his name is Alan); thinking that I hadn't spoken to him in over a year and I wanted to call just to wish him Happy Holidays.....

What I found out on that phone call gave me chills and also made me so angry at Bernie Maydoff for ruining so many lives.

Not only did Alan have money invested with Bernie, but our mutual friends from all over the city (Manhattan) have been hit so hard that they will never recover!!!

Fortunately for Alan, a wise and conservative investor, he was careful not to fall victim to Maydoff's greed; he has never put a lot of money in any one place and he is very well diversified....but our friends! They have been harmed so badly that in one case, every last penny is gone.

"I play golf with him at the Atlantic Golf Course" Alan said as he was expounding on the outrage of who Bernies biggest victims were. "He was one of my good friends, I thought!"

"We all knew him; had lunch with him, played tennis and golf with him...I guess we didn't really know him, but we were thinking he was a friend! People trusted him...completely!!! I knew him for 20 years!!!

BERNIE....WE HARDLY KNEW YE!

So, here is an outline of my friends who have taken a hit from this man in an empty suit:

• My former neighbor and his wife are wiped out completely, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in their life savings. Both are now retired----guess what? They both have to get jobs.
• A very close friend of mine who sells commercial real estate in New York City, put every penny she earned with Bernie. Her husband has his own struggling business and now these people, nearing retirement, will not be able to do that.
• One of my associates had her money completely invested with Bernie---every last dollar is gone.
• I can count 6 of my friends and aquaintances who have lost huge amounts of money to Bernie Maydoff.

Story after story is unfolding; people who are embarrassed about their lack of due diligence before putting all their money with this man have just begun to come forward to their friends. And as they talk, they find out almost all of their mutual acquaintances have lost all their money.

These are not the incredibly wealthy that you hear about on the news or in the business press; no these are people like many of us. Hard working people who have saved over the years so that they may now retire; they will not retire soon.

I am only one person---how many other people out there know someone who has lost money to this shady character?

This is the Hamptons, after all. We are the playground for the rich and famous. We are at the effect of Wall Street bonuses, Wall Street moguls and Wall Street Hoodlums...This is just another of many exploitations we have been privileged to endure.....we will survive this one as well!