Millions missing at Philadelphia-area charity

Millions missing at Philadelphia-area charity | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/07/2009.

A charitable foundation on the Main Line has lost as much as $15 million entrusted to a self-employed Broomall investment manager, according to one of its trustees.

Joseph S. Forte is the investment manager, and the missing money is inspiring comparisons to the Bernard L. Madoff scandal on Wall Street.

Details emerged late last week and caused a buzz in places ranging from the steps of a church in Wayne to Main Line money-management circles.

A trustee of the Thornton D. & Elizabeth S. Hooper Foundation, which listed $15.22 million in assets under management by Joe Forte L.P. in its latest public filing, said he did not know what had happened to the money.