A day after news of the Lebanese Bernie Madoff comes word that Brooklyn has a Ponzi schemer of its very own. (Honestly, shouldn't all the Ponzi schemers have been flushed out by now? There's only so much longer that someone can be referred to as [Name of Location]'s Bernie Madoff.) Anyway, meet Philip Barry of Bay Ridge. Barry was charged yesterday with operating a $40 million scam. But were there any signs that might have made the friends and neighbors bilked by Barry over a period of 30 years suspicious?
Authorities say Barry used the money to pay his own bills and buy swaths of land to develop upstate in his own name – along with using it to run his porn business. Duped investors told The News yesterday they knew he had a side business selling DVDs and CDs on eBay – and some said they always suspected something fishy.A porn-dealing eBay Power Seller? How could you not put your money with this guy?
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"There's only so much longer that someone can be referred to as [Name of Location]'s Bernie Madoff.)" Wrong. See, esp.: [Water]gate.
Weird, he does not look like someone you would associate with porn in any fashion.
Bernie Jackoff?
Ooohh.
You win the internet for today.