Ripples of Madoff scandal spread everywhere...

In the nonprofit legal center Steven Schwartz runs from a converted furniture store in Northampton, Mass., the e-mail was very good news: By week's end, a check for $243,000 would be on its way.

The money couldn't come soon enough. The sharp downturn in the economy had put Schwartz's group - working to improve treatment of teen offenders with mental illnesses - under very tight budget pressure. At least the check was a promise he could count on.

By that Thursday, though, events were unfolding 160 miles away that would upend those assumptions and assurances. In a federal courtroom in lower Manhattan, a Wall Street wizard stood before a judge, charged with running a $50 billion fraud that targeted scores of wealthy and powerful investors. More...

See also:

1. The Bernard Madoff scam: Top investors 'hit by $50bn con...'
2. Bernard Madoff: European banks involved in yet another money scandal...
3. Swiss furious at the UBS. Can you blame them?