An eclectic list purporting to name thousands of people who lost money in Mr. Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme -- complete with their street addresses -- includes housewives and retirees, a plumbers union and a high school. The list, released as part of his firm's bankruptcy-court proceedings, is providing fodder for gawkers who are already poring through it to look for friends, business associates and prominent people who had so far avoided the spotlight, but who now have been outed.
The list includes baseball legend Sandy Koufax. In addition it lists some other famous-sounding names: John Malkovich (the actor's agent declined to comment); the late musical philanthropist Avery Fisher (a family member declined to comment); and Phyllis George (the former television host and Miss America 1971 couldn't be reached for comment).
Also on it is the family trust of Susan Leavitt, a stay-at-home mother of two in Tampa, Fla. She was dropping off her son at grade school Thursday morning when another parent mentioned that a list naming Mr. Madoff's investors was circulating. She was horrified: Her family's name is on it.
The document, released late Wednesday, consists of people who either were identified as customers in Mr. Madoff's records or who identified themselves as customers by contacting Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee in charge of liquidating Mr. Madoff's assets, or the Securities Investor Protection Corp.
"It's as public as Paris Hilton porn movies," says Steven Salbe, 42 years old, a consultant who sets up corporate computer systems in Boca Raton, Fla., whose family lost much of its savings in the scandal. "It's the one list I prefer not to be on, but I'm on it."
The list also includes the incarcerated. Melvyn Weiss and David Bershad -- two high-profile one-time plaintiffs' lawyers now serving time in federal prison for illegally paying kickbacks to clients -- appear to be victims of the fraud.
This type of information is routinely released during bankruptcy proceedings. But the massive size of the alleged fraud, the tremendous interest it has spawned, and the technology available to post it digitally has fueled an online frenzy.
But within hours, Josh Linsk, a 26-year-old who runs a publishing company based in Las Vegas, transformed it into a searchable database, www.madoffsearch.com, which he dubbed "The first and only Bernard Madoff Search Engine."
The list isn't entirely accurate. New York law firm Wolf Popper LLP was included. But Wolf Popper partner Jim Harrod said he had no idea why. "I have to assume that that's a mistake," said Mr. Harrod. One possible explanation is that it was inadvertently included because the law firm, on behalf of some clients, has sued Fairfield Greenwich Group, a firm that invested client funds with Mr. Madoff.
Particularly surprising was the appearance of Ira Lee Sorkin -- Mr. Madoff's lawyer -- on the customer list. Whether Mr. Sorkin or his family members lost money through Mr. Madoff is unclear. A person familiar with the matter says Mr. Sorkin's father, Nathan, opened an IRA account with Mr. Madoff at some point in the 1990s.
Sherry Morse, an interior designer in San Francisco who lost much of her retirement money, says she was shocked to receive an email Wednesday afternoon from an online group of Madoff investors, telling her the customer list was making the rounds.
Some of the victims didn't mind the attention. The Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 267 in Syracuse, N.Y., lost about $48 million in pension and other funds it had invested with Mr. Madoff. "We don't have any issues to hide," said Gregory Lancette, business manager for the union.
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