Illustration: Riccardo Vecchio

Having been charged with civil fraud here in New York and in Massachusetts, Madoff investor J. Ezra Merkin was forced to step down as manager of his three hedge funds Ascot, Gabriel, and Ariel. Merkin, who took $2.4 billion from universities and nonprofit organizations and invested it with the Ponzi schemer, was forced out by New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo. This is a victory for Cuomo, as well as for NYU, New York Law School, Mort Zuckerman, and everybody else who is suing Merkin to try to recoup some of the money they've lost. Of course, for Merkin it's not so bad — he was probably bored fiddling with those accounts anyway: His funds Gabriel and Ariel have a mere $1 billion left between them, and Ascot has no money left at all.

Cuomo Removes Merkin as Manager of Funds [WSJ]
Earlier: J. Ezra Merkin Accused of Being 'Sophisticated'
J. Ezra Merkin Charged With Civil Fraud
Related: The Monster Mensch