Bernard Madoff didn't accept money from just anyone. Clients ideally had to have at least $10 million to open an account with his New York investment firm.

While such wealthy people don't turn up just anywhere, the Palm Beach Country Club provided enough to make Madoff's membership in the predominantly Jewish club worthwhile.

Bernard Madoff scandal The veteran Wall Street money manager, a part-time Palm Beacher, is accused of duping a long list of investors in a huge Ponzi scheme. More on Madoff Searchable client list View the full list See some of the clients Page2Live.com updates Post your comments on this story below Share This Story

On Friday, many of those who had considered themselves lucky to invest their millions with the part-time Palm Beacher were calling their accountants, their brokers and each other, wondering whether they had lost it all.

"Everyone is in shock," said Richard Rampell, a Palm Beach accountant. "They're embarrassed. They don't want to believe they got taken."

But, according to federal investigators, that's exactly what happened.

"It's all just one big lie ... basically a giant Ponzi scheme," Madoff told senior employees this week, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in New York City.

The feds swooped in quickly and arrested the 70-year-old, who splits his time between a Manhattan apartment and a $9.3 million mansion on the Intracoastal Waterway just north of Flagler Memorial Bridge. The five-bedroom, seven-bath Palm Beach property once belonged to Herbert and Hilary Pulitzer.

After he told the employees that he had lost $50 billion invested with him, investigators were afraid he would carry through with plans to give the $200 million to $300 million that remained to favored employees, family and friends, according to court documents.

The $50 billion loss, if accurate, would be one of the biggest frauds in history. By comparison, when energy trading giant Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2001, it had $63.4 billion in assets.

Madoff late Thursday was charged with one count of securities fraud. He was released after posting a $10 million bond secured by his New York City apartment.

His attorney, Daniel Horwitz, spoke of the contributions the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities has made during his decades-long career as a Wall Street powerhouse, including a stint as chairman of the Nasdaq exchange he helped found.

"Bernard Madoff is a long-standing leader in the financial services industry," he said. "We will fight to get through this unfortunate set of events."

Calling the events "unfortunate" doesn't begin to describe the possible fallout, said Rampell and others.

Not only would individuals lose millions if Madoff used their money to pay off other clients instead of investing it, but some of his clients were local charities, Rampell said, although he declined to name them.

In addition, the types of people who invested with Madoff are those that the already strained nonprofits typically turn to for donations in tough economic times.

Madoff also handled hedge funds, including Fairfield Greenwich Advisors LLC and Tremont Capital Management, according to published reports.

"He had a very stellar reputation," Norman Braman, CEO of Braman Motors, told The Miami Herald. "I read this morning about Arthur Levitt, former head of the SEC, praising him. That's how you select people - by reputation."

Braman, whose company has operations in Miami, West Palm Beach and Denver, said Friday he was one of Madoff's clients.

Investing with Madoff also was attractive because the returns were so high, Rampell said. Even in recent years, when other securities tanked, returns were as high as 11 percent to 15 percent, he said.

When one client asked him whether it was safe, Rampell said he tried to figure out how Madoff made money. Because the monthly statements he sent clients were hundreds of pages long, Rampell assumed Madoff was a day trader.

Demurring that his technique was a secret, Madoff offered only this explanation: "I can make money when the market goes up. I can make money when the market goes down. But I can't make money when the market stays flat."

Ultimately, Rampell said, he told the client: "I don't know what to tell you other than the guy has a good track record."

Given the events of the past week, he said, he has doubts about the truth of the statements Madoff sent clients as well as the annual audits Madoff sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

If the federal allegations are true, the surprise is that Madoff was able to sustain such a fraud for so long, Rampell said. Court documents show that it dates back to at least 2005.

It fell apart when wary investors demanded $7 billion back and he didn't have the money to cover it, Madoff told investigators.

"There is no innocent explanation," Madoff told FBI agents, according to court documents. He told the agents he "paid investors with money that wasn't there," that he was "broke" and that he expected to go to jail.

The only bright spot for investors is that they may be able to get tax refunds if the investment returns were bogus, Rampell said. But, he acknowledged, that would be little compensation, either financially or psychologically, for those who knew him at the country club.

While the club, which was formed in 1959 by Jewish Palm Beachers who were banned from other island haunts, proved to be an important connection for Madoff, fellow members described him as aloof.

Others wanted to talk money; he wanted to golf. Or maybe it was something else, Rampell suggested.

"Maybe it was all part of his mystique," he said.

The Wall Street Journal and The Miami Herald contributed to this story.