Bernard Madoff

Richard Riordan Pension Reform Surprise

He throws a lightning rod into the 2013 Los Angeles mayoral race

Life of Pie: L.A. Celebrates Its Pizza Moment

From our 2012 Restaurant Issue, celebrating everything pizza in L.A. On a Wednesday evening, 10 students sit along the counter at the Scuola di Pizza, the, yes, "School of Pizza" at L.A.'s premier pizza joint, Mozza. I'd like to say we're a varied lot, but that wouldn't be true -- we're uniformly w ... More >>

How Mark Borovitz Went From Con Man to Rabbi

It seems like the setup for a corny joke: A rabbi and an ex-con walk into a room. Except here's the punch line: They're one and the same. Rabbi Mark Borovitz, 60, runs Beit T'Shuvah, a residential treatment center and Jewish congregation in an otherwise nondescript building in an equally average se ... More >>

Patrick Soon-Shiong, L.A.'s Richest Man, Joins Steven Cohen in Dodgers Bid

With owner Frank McCourt's April 30 deadline to sell the team rapidly approaching, and with potential suitors--like alleged con man, and L.A. Weekly cover boy, Josh Macciello--dropping like flies, bidding for the Dodgers is getting serious. Hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen gained a new asset in ... More >>

Kinde Durkee Was Trusted by California's Top Democrats — Until Millions of Dollars Vanished

John Farahi: Iranian Bernie Madoff? Feds Say $20 Million of L.A. Persian Jews' Money Lost

yunguyen666​A Bel Air Estates man whose investment fraud allegedly cost $20 million in losses was indicted by a federal grand jury this week. And since these alleged, mini-Madoffs are getting titles in the news based on ethnicity, we'll call this suspect a potential Iranian Bernie Madoff. Ind ... More >>

Jodie Foster's Ancient Father, or 'Bernie Madoff of Sherman Oaks,' to Be Jailed for Bad 1-Percent Behavior

radaronline.comLucias Foster, left -- the most resilient scammer alive.​Today's proceedings in Van Nuys Superior Court could not have gotten any weirder: Lucius Foster, the 89-year-old father of actress Jodie, was declared "guilty" of concocting a home-building scheme that leeched thousands ... More >>

Rob Delaney, L.A. Comedian, Wants to Sue Kim Kardashian Over 'Sham' Wedding; Kim, Lawyers Call BS

Kiss, dammit. You promised!​Kim Kardashian has finally responded, albeit indirectly, to Los Angeles comedian Rob Delaney's threat to sue her in a viral column for Vice Magazine. His grounds? Delaney tells the Weekly that L.A.'s Armenian princess defrauded the public, and perhaps E! advertiser ... More >>

Kinde Durkee Called "The Bernie Madoff Of Campaign Finance Treasurers"

Bernie Madoff and Kinde Durkee​Update: Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she was "wiped out." More below.Another day, another victim of the Kinde Durkee campaign finance scandal.Rep. Susan Davis, a San Diego Democrat and a Durkee client, told supporters over the weekend that more than $250,000 has been s ... More >>

Ezri Namvar Is the New Bernie Madoff and the Most Reviled Man in Town

(And he speaks for the first time)

Top 10 Music Managers Who Fucked Over Their Clients

The family Knowles in happier times​In light of the surprising news over the reasons Beyonce fired her longtime manager (and longtime father for that matter) Mathew Knowles, we remembered a time when scummy managers were not only the norm, but expected. Here are the Top 10 Managers in Music Hi ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 5/31-6/3

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "What is a fake restaurant, exactly? Is it a place like Happy Family, serving kung pao chicken whose fowl is carefully crafted from gluten, or like the celebrity hangout Philippe, itself an imitatio ... More >>

USDA Unveils New Food Chart: No More Pyramid Schemes

​ This morning the USDA unveiled their new food chart, finally replacing the food pyramid which first debuted -- and was trashed pretty much since -- in 1992. The new chart also comes with its own new website, ChooseMyPlate.gov. The food pyramid, you will doubtless remember, is that irritating ... More >>

Doug Stanhope: Make Us Laugh, Funny Boy!

​ Instead our usual insipid questions with the brilliant comic, Mr. Stanhope enlisted his fans to submit their own insipid questions. Do you think social media is a positive or detrimental thing? It's like a dildo on a power-drill. It depends on how you use it.

Make Us Laugh, Funny Boy!

Doug Stanhope

Happy Anniversary: Martha Stewart Released From Jail 6 Years Ago Today

Marthastewart.comMartha at home​Happy Anniversary Martha! Six years ago this morning, Martha Stewart was released from jail. As you may recall, Stewart spent five months at the minimum-security federal women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia after being convicted for lying to government inve ... More >>

Bankrupt Businessman James Agate Angles for a Slice of Billionaire Ted Forstmann's Riches

Pundits of Punk

Barry Minkow 2.0

L.A.'s fraud king is back — and taking the media for another ride

Caught On Tape: Bell Salary Scandal Suspect Robert Rizzo Snoozes, Smirks In Court

Robert Rizzo.​So you're the guy almost everyone thinks is the mastermind, the Bernie Madoff, the Dr. Evil of the Bell salary scandal, the guy who reportedly pulled $1.5 million in salary and other take-home from a struggling, working-class city, the former Bell city manager who allegedly made ... More >>

Randy Quaid Housing Crisis Comes To A Head After Squatting Alleged In Santa Barbara County

​Los Angeles has one of the most intractable homeless populations in the nation. Its Skid Row is the Skid Row. In Venice, people have taken to living in RVs. The real estate crisis has put people on the streets, plain and simple. But who knew times were so hard that even Hollywood actors were ... More >>

Stage Raw: Voombodian Women from Outer Space!

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater FEATURE on Happy Ending and WaterVOOMBODIAN WOMEN FROM OUTER SPACE! Staged reading of Barry Schwam's new play at Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., in Sierra Madre. Sun., 7:30 p.m. $5 (626) 355-4318 AN EVENING WITH PAT BOONE, ... More >>

Stage Raw: Circle X and Bootleg Hook Up to Read Plays

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater FEATURE on John StepplingCIRCLE X AND BOOTLEG HOOK UP TO READ PLAYS Circle X Theatre Company and Bootleg are joining forces to present a series of Monday night readings of new works, starting September 13, at the Bootleg venue. Playwrights s ... More >>

Theater Reviews: A Wither's Tale, All My Sons,Karma the Musical

Also, Chess in Concert, On the Verge (Or the Geography of Yearning) and more

Stage Raw: City Garage Bids Adieu to Fourth Street

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS Cover Story on LATE's The War Cycle2011 MARK TAPER FORUM SEASON ANNOUNCED ​John Lithgow Photo by Nigel Perry John Lithgow will ring in the New Year spinning yarns in Stories By Heart, previously produced at the Lincoln Center and at the National ... More >>

All My Sons

Stage Raw: Much Ado

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS STAGE FEATURE on My Penis, In and Out of TroubleNEW REVIEW GO GRIFFITH PARK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING​Photo by Ivy AugustaDon John (Sean Pritchett) is such a bastard. Really. He's the bastard son of Don Pedro (Luis Galindo), pri ... More >>

The Jewing of Westwood

Weather Balloons and Unemployment

More Crime and Punishment and a virtual Conquest of the South Pole

Stage Raw: L.A. shows NYC-bound

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSLATEST THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Leonard Nimoy and Company of AngelsL.A. SHOWS HEADING EAST ​SoulArt Productions presentation of Alex Lyras' The Common Air - a nominee in last year's L.A. Weekly Theatre Awards solo performance award for its 2008 run at the Asylu ... More >>

Weak Economy Kills Love Ride 26

Glendale Harley-Davidson/Buell​While you can't say that Bernie Madoff killed Love Ride 26, but the cancellation of the annual motorcycle ride benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association is part and parcel of a collapsing economy whose victims include once-secure charities. The L.A. Daily News re ... More >>

Best of L.A.: Shopping

Theater Reviews: Altar Boyz, the Apple Tree, Chariot, Sprung: A Love Story

Also, Stop Kiss, Billie and Bogie, God Box and more.

Stage Raw: As You Like It

THE LATEST NEW REVIEWS ARE EMBEDDED IN THIS WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSAlso see this week's STAGE FEATURE on Polish theater unmaskedNEW REVIEW GO AS YOU LIKE ITAs You Like It Photo courtesy of Aquila TheatreSummer is in full heat across the Southland, which brings out amphitheater producti ... More >>

Stage Raw: Pericles Redux

 THEATER LISTINGSNEW REVIEW THEATER PICK PERICLES REDUXPhoto courtesy of Not Man Apart ProductionsScholars have long discussed whether Shakespeare wrote  the entirety of Pericles, Prince of Tyre or collaborated with another writer. (Given the play's convoluted elements, most commentators ... More >>

Womb Service: Octomom the Musical

Just can’t get enough

Stonehill Tavern update: An Interview with Michael Mina about St. Regis, Burgers and the AIG Bailout Party

With the St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel facing foreclosure, we thought we'd check in with chef-restauranteur Michael Mina, whose OC restaurant Stonehill Tavern is owned by the hotel.

Stanley Chais, Local Madoff Helper, Faces Lawsuit

Beverly Hills money manager Stanley Chais has to be looking over his shoulder this morning Wall Street JournalStanley Chaisto Bernard Madoff's prison sentence. Chais is at the Roybal Federal Building facing accusations by TV host Daphne Brogdon and others of acting as a local "feeder" to bogus inves ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

He-e-e-r-re's Eddie! Ed McMahon, the sidekick's sidekick, who for 30 years suffered and shone as Johnny Carson's foil, straight man and MC, has died of undisclosed causes at the age of 86. L.A. TimesSheriff Stops DNA Search Blaming budget woes, L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca has halted his department' ... More >>

Rescue Me Comedy Tour's Denis Leary Exercises His First Amendment Rights, And Then Some

To kick off the fifth season of his FX drama Rescue Me, star Denis Leary brought a collection of fellow stand-ups (who just happened to be series regulars) together for the 11-city Rescue Me Comedy Tour... his first large-scale jaunt in 12 years. While the Saturday-night crowd seemed to be comprised ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

DWP Ordered to Refund Customers A Superior Court judge has ordered the DWP to pay back $30 million in fees it channeled into cash-strapped city agencies. L.A. TimesBenefits Take a Holiday Employees of papers belonging to the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (Daily News, Daily Breeze, et al) have been tol ... More >>

Stage Raw: Lie With Me on KPFK

TIME IS RUNNING OUT, SEATING IS LIMITED:  PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE 30TH ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS ON MARCH 30TH; NOMINEES, RSVP AT (310) 574-7208, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO. DRESS FOR A 1958 LOUNGE ACT.At your fingertips: This week's THEATER FEATURE on Jon Stewart, Jim Cramer an ... More >>

Daily News' Database Central: A Procrastinator's Dream

Every now and then the L.A. Daily News shows off its individual databases but is currently spotlighting all of them on one Web page. Culled from public records that we may be too lazy to track down ourselves, they provide the procrastinator with hours of dreamy fun that can be written off on company ... More >>

AP: Madoff Fleeced Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick

An Associated Press story, carried by Huffington Post and several other sources, reports that husband-wife actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick were taken to the cleaners big time by disgraced investment titan Bernard Madoff. The couple are the latest Hollywood figures known to have suffered heavy l ... More >>

Jordan Belfort: The Wounded Wolf of Wall Street

Still howling

Bernard Madoff & White-Wing Blogs

The answer to the question, Is Bernard Madoff good for the Jews? has become painfully obvious during the past week as Jewish charities and individuals take stock of the $50 billion damage allegedly wrought by the investment titan. Their misfortune has kicked off an anti-Semitic Oktoberfest of gloati ... More >>