ERIC ROTH - HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER SUES OVER ALLEGED PONZI SCHEME

HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER SUES OVER ALLEGED PONZI SCHEME

Hollywood writer ERIC ROTH has filed suit against his investment manager after reportedly joining STEVEN SPIELBERG as the latest victim of the $50 billion (GBP33.9 billion) fraud scandal rocking America's Wall Street.
Roth, who penned Brad Pitt's new film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 1994's Forrest Gump, and The Horse Whisperer, claims he suffered "massive losses" as a result of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.
The writer filed papers in Los Angeles' County Superior Court against his "trusted investment manager" Stanley Chais, who he says was responsible for managing hundreds of millions of dollars from his clients.
Roth alleges Chais "simply handed over the entirety of these funds to BMIS (Madoff's company), all the while collecting enormous fees for his so-called 'management' of these investments".
The writer is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the case.
Madoff was arrested on 8 December (08) and allegedly confessed to ciphering billions of dollars from his clients in a scam which collapsed after people began asking for their money back due to the global financial crisis.
In addition to director Spielberg, his partner, DreamWorks Animation SKG chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Uma Thurman's fiance, hedge-fund tycoon Arpad Busson, are among a list of high-profile investors who reportedly lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the scheme.