American stockbroker and billionaire, colleague of convicted felon Bernard Madoff. As the head of Cohmad Securities Corporation, Jaffe funneled millions of dollars of private, corporate and foundation money to Madoff for investment. Madoff was convicted of running a Ponzi-type scheme on June 29, 2009. Jaffe said he knew nothing of Madoff’s fraudulent investment strategies although federal and state authorities are investigating his role in the Madoff affair.
In one of the more interesting twists to the Madoff-Jaffe relationship, Jaffe is married to Ellen Shapiro whose parents, Carl and Ruth Shapiro, are philanthropists. The Shapiro foundation, with its enormous assets, generously contributes to public television, museums, hospitals, universities and many other charitiable organizations. The Shapiro family were among the many who lost a great deal of their wealth by investing with Madoff.
Tall and fashion-conscious, Jaffe is a self-described clotheshorse. He and his wife Ellen were an integral part of the social scene in Palm Beach, FL and in Massachusetts where they had homes. In his social and business dealings he met many of the clients whom he introduced to Madoff.
Jaffe and his wife became engaged in late 1967, the year he graduated from college.They married in August 1968. A year later, without completing his MBA, he joined the investment firm of E.F. Hutton. In 1980 he left to join another brokerage firm, Cowan & Co. He founded Cohmad in 1985 and closed it in August 2005.
On February 2, 2010 a judge dismissed charges of fraud stemming from Jaffe’s referral of clients to Bernard Madoff.
Link to Wikipedia biography