BNY Mellon unit 'sold clients down the river': Cuomo

Ivy Asset Management LLC, its former Chief Executive Officer Lawrence Simon and ex-Chief Investment Officer Howard Wohl were sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and accused of misleading clients about investments tied to Bernard Madoff. Ivy, a New York-based investment adviser owned by Bank of New York Mellon, withheld damaging information about Madoff so the firm could make millions of dollars in fees, Cuomo said today in a statement. From 1998 to 2008, Ivy was paid more than $40 million to give advice and conduct due diligence for clients with large Madoff investments, Cuomo said. Even after the company learned Madoff was not investing client funds as promised, Ivy kept silent so as to not lose the fees, e-mails revealed, according to Cuomo. Ivy “saw the trouble with Madoff coming around the bend, but instead of guiding their clients through the financial waters, they sold them down the river,” Cuomo said in the statement. Jim Badenhausen, a spokeman for Ivy, did not immediately return a call for comment. Madoff pleaded guilty last year to running a $65 billion fraud, the biggest Ponzi scheme ever, and is serving a 150-year prison term.