Five lists naming the clients of the accused swindler Bernard Madoff have been compiled by AlixPartners LLP, a firm specializing in bankruptcy claims - and there are quite a few names of 'rich and famous' people figuring on these lists!

The lists, part of the 162-page document filed with the US Bankruptcy Court in New York, were marked as Customers, Vendors, Employees, Brokers/Dealers and Other Parties; and contained names and addresses of individuals and institutions.

AlixPartners assisted the trustee, lawyer Irving Picard, in preparing the clients' lists, so that assets for duped customers could be recovered by liquidating Madoff's investment firm.

Featuring on the list are thousands of names including Frank Lautenberg - New Jersey Senator; Larry Silverstein - World Trade Centre developer; Sandy Koufax - Hall of Fame baseball pitcher; actor John Malkovich; Fred Wilpon - owner New York Mets baseball team; Melvyn Weiss - jailed lawyer; Mark and Andrew - Madoff's sons; and Peter - Madoff's brother.

Other noteworthy 'customers' mentioned are Columbia University; filmmaker Steven Spielberg's Wunderkinder Foundation; and the charity Jewish Funds for Justice. Some well-known financial institutions on the list are Bank of America Corp; UBS AG; Citigroup; and BNP Paribas.

Madoff operated the biggest ever 'Ponzi scheme' - a design in which the money taken from new investors goes towards the payment of early investors! Following the
70-year-old swindler's December 11 arrest, his Manhattan office has been declared a crime scene.