Bernie’s  in the soup, again.  If you’ve been following the news about alleged swindler Bernard Madoff, you know he’s in trouble with the court; but if you’ve not been following it, read on.  He’s been under house arrest for a few weeks, confined to his $7 million apartment while awaiting trial for an alleged $50 billion Ponzi swindle.  Now prosecutors want to throw the 70 year old into the slammer and keep him there until he goes to trial. They contend that, “The defendant showed that he could not be trusted to obey the court’s orders and that no set of conditions could constrain his ability to harm the community.”  What had this Park Avenue desperado done?  Specifically, after the court had frozen all of his assets, he shipped 5 small boxes of jewelry (one of them, alone, valued at more than $1 million) to friends and relatives, some of whom blew the whistle on him to U.S. prosecutors (Were they just being good citizens or had Bernie ticked them off?).  While the Feds see it as an attempt to hide assets, Bernie’s lawyer says it was “just a mistake”, that his client was innocent of any deliberate violation of the court’s order.  Philosophically, questions of “right or wrong” come down to a single question; do Bernie and his wife value their jewelry for the sentiments attached to it (the basis for a claim of innocence), or do they look at it as tangible assets with a real cash value?  Practically, I’m with the prosecutors on this one, as this case brings two stories to my mind.   The first is fictional, a subplot in the film “Casablanca”.  Playing off the romance between Ilse (Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman) and Rick, (Humphrey Bogart) the film is also about the plight of refugees from the Nazis seeking to leave Casablanca before it is taken over, completely, by the Germans.  Ilse and her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid, an Austrian actor who had fled the Nazis), are just two of them.   Early in the film we see another couple bartering a ring for the exit visas they need to take them to safety.  Their lives are at stake, yet the ring is obviously of such great emotional significance that parting with it is difficult for them.  Bernie’s wealth (unknown, but it is estimated that he’s “buried” as much as $850 million) is such, and the quantity of jewelry was so great, that I find it hard to believe that each piece of it has gut-wrenching sentimental value.  The other story is true.  Several years ago (more than 50!) I met a Czech woman who, with her husband, had fled Czechoslovakia fearing arrest by the Communist controlled police.  As a medical doctor, I doubt if her husband was of much interest to the Communists; but she was.  Her family had owned a factory that manufactured and exported hydro-electic generators, world wide, before the Nazi occupation began in 1938.  While Hitler’s Germany did not commandeer the plant, they compelled it to be converted to the manufacture of military equipment for the “Third Reich”.    As the Germans allowed her family a bit of profit from its war time production, her already wealthy family became more wealthy.   Nonetheless, they feared that so arbitrary a regime as Hitler’s might seize their wealth; so they began to convert it into cash and then convert the cash into jewelry.  After the war’s end, the Communists became part of the post war government; and with their participation they gained control of the national police force (they took over all of Czechoslovakia in 1948, three years later).  Again she and her family feared that their wealth would be seized; so they continued to convert it into jewelry.  When “the handwriting was on the wall” they fled Czechoslovakia on a “day trip” to Austria.  Though they were forbidden to take Czech currency out of the country, their wealth went with them – sealed in a metal canister designed to look like part of their car’s exhaust system.  These truly were hidden assets; and selling them had no emotional significance.  It was a means to an end, continuing a good life style; and there was enough to do it.  We appraised the remainder of her “stash” of fine jewelry in 1983; and the “odds and ends” were still worth more than a quarter of a million dollars.  Clearly, this  demonstrates that fine jewelry is among the most portable forms of wealth; and I must believe that Bernie knows this.  I can only believe that he had attempted to “bury” the jewelry as part of a greater scheme to bury assets that would allow him to continue the good life when his troubles are over.

Of course, the precious nature of fine jewelry is exactly what makes a fine diamond ring the perfect gift for the woman you love.  The cost may hurt a bit, but if you’ve bought her the most beautiful diamond there is, that only makes its emotional significance greater.  So play it safe when you shop for a diamond gift; give her Hearts On Fire.  It’s the world’s most perfectly cut diamond with breathtaking beauty unmatched by any ordinary diamond.  It will say, “I love you,” perfectly; and you won’t have to say a word.  Check out our Hearts On Fire collection on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment to chose the perfect diamond.  We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers; and we’ll help you realize your dreams.