If Madoff made off with billions, how safe is my money?

Last month, Bernard Madoff pled guilty to swindling billions from his clients. While a scandal of this magnitude is rare, Brad Pendleton, CFA, a senior financial advisor in Merrill Lynch's Nashville office, said similar crimes of a smaller nature happen more often than you might realize.

At the same time the Madoff drama was unfolding in New York, former Brentwood financial advisor Michael Park, owner of Park Capital Management Group, was slapped with federal charges for mail and wire fraud in his own multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme. On February 27, he admitted defrauding more than two dozen clients. In late March, Dennis Bolze was extradited from New Jersey back to East Tennessee to face fraud charges from a similar investment scheme.

So how do you protect yourself from being swindled by a smooth-talking "expert" advisor? First and foremost, do you homework.

Click the link below to read the entire Nashville Medical News article featuring Stephen High, chief manager of Kraft Asset Management:

If Madoff made off with billions, how safe is my money