OKLAHOMA CITY — At least one Baptist group lost money as part of Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma said it lost $1.4 million, less than 1 percent of its assets, when third-party money managers invested in two of Madoff’s allegedly fraudulent hedge funds.
Madoff, former Nasdaq chairman and founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, was arrested in December for allegedly swindling a number of high-profile Jewish charities and celebrities including Kevin Bacon, Larry King and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Robert Kellogg, president and CEO of the foundation, said his organization, which manages investment funds for Southern Baptist ministries, did not make any direct investments with Madoff but learned in mid-December from its investment consultant that one of its managers gave the foundation “nominal exposure” to allegedly fraudulent management by Madoff.
Kellogg said total losses amounted to about $1.4 million out of $234 million in assets managed by the foundation.
Oklahoma Baptist University, the foundation’s largest client, lost about $600,000 of its endowment holdings. University officials said the loss would not have a significant impact on the school’s operating budget.
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