JEHT To Close Behind Madoff Scandal

If it isn't the economy...

More victims of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities continue to emerge on Monday. The JEHT Foundation, a charity that supports reform of the criminal and juvenile justice systems, said that it would stop making grants and close its doors next month because its donors, Jeanne Levy-Church and Kenneth Levy-Church, were investors in the Madoff firm.

The foundation was established in 2000 and worked mainly through grants to other non-profits whose missions included voter registration, government transparency and ensuring the U.S. adhered to the international rule of law.

“The JEHT Foundation Baord deeply regrets that the important work that the Foundation has undertaken over the years is ending so abruptly,” the foundation’s president and chief executive, Robert Crane, said in a statement.

“It’s just devastating no only for us, but for those that we work with and support,” Mr. Crane said. Mr. Madoff had been a financial advisor to the Levy-Church family for more than 30 years, “so there was no reason to suspect anything,” he said.

Several charities and family foundations have been severely hit in the Madoff scandal after discovering that a substantial amount of their assets were tied up with the firm. The Julian J. Levitt had $6 million with Mr. Madoff, while the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation had $8 million of exposure. Both Yeshiva University and the charitable foundation of United States Senator Frank Lautenberg also reported exposure to the firm.

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