Marc Dreier Was More Brazen than Bernie Madoff
Written by staff on May 15, 2025
Greetings from San Diego
You Thought Bernie Madoff Was Audacious
When Bernie Madoff was arrested, most thought he was the most audacious Ponzi-scheme fraudster in U.S. history. But just nine days earlier another Ponzi fraudster was arrested. I thought this man was even more brazen. I first learned about him in a Vanity Fair article in 2009 by Nigel Parry.
Marc Dreier grew up as the star child of an affluent family in Long Island. Much was expected from him. Dreier went to Yale and then to Harvard Law School. Then he joined a law firm and became a great litigator by working 100-hour weeks. He seemed to be fulfilling everyone’s expectations of him.
But he wasn’t satisfied with his financial success or the recognition he got. He joined other law firms and had the same complaints, so he struck out on his own. But he was not achieving the success of other Harvard classmates who were ringing in multi-million dollar judgments. 9-11 happened and he regarded the collapsing towers as a metaphor for his failure. Nevertheless, he said he never doubted his destiny to do great things.
During a walk on the beach he realized his life goal was to become so successful he could have an oceanfront house. That would make him happy. He could do it by greatly expanding his firm. To do that he borrowed and cheated on taxes to have enough funds to hire star lawyers. They worked in a prestigious office that he spent $1 million renovating.
But he needed more funding to sustain the firm’s growth. Why not use his old client, Sheldon Solow? Solow was a well-known and litigious real estate mogul in New York City. Dreier had represented him in court and the two of them resorted to quasi-legal dirty tricks to try to win cases. The cases had gone badly and Dreier resented how Solow had ruined his reputation. So he betrayed him.
Dreier forged financial statements and promissory notes for Solow’s company. The documentation indicated that Solow had borrowed funds and would pay then off years later. Dreier sold those notes to hedge funds and used the cash to build his law firm. Each time a note came due he’d manufacture another fake one and sell it to a hedge fund. Eventually the total was more than $350 million. All money that Solow was supposed to owe but was used by Dreier. By 2007 the firm had 175 lawyers.
He also spent part of those funds to buy the accoutrements he thought would tell the world how successful he was.
His spoils included two waterfront homes in the Hamptons, condos in the Caribbean and Santa Monica, and a $200K Aston Martin. Plus multimillion dollar paintings from Picasso and Matisse. Here’s picture of his 120-foot yacht in St Martin.
Dreier’s new attorneys treated him like God.
The hedge funds liked their fictitious earnings and kept rolling over their investments. They never asked for principal to be returned.
But all Ponzi schemes eventually fail. By 2008 the housing market had crashed and the hedge funds wanted their money back. One fund consented to an extension. But they demanded to meet with executives at Solow Realty first. Solow had no idea that Dreier was peddling fake debt with their name on it. This is when Dreier really got creative.
He scheduled a meeting in a conference room at the Solow headquarters and brought in a paid imposter. The imposter pretended to be part of Solow Realty. The hedge fund met there and fell for it. They approved the extension. The deception worked until another hedge fund called Solow’s auditors and learned that the debt didn’t exist.
Dreier thought he could escape from being prosecuted. He fabricated more documents with the name of an old client — the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. But the new investor insisted on meeting the borrower’s executives in Toronto. If his con worked once, why not try it again?
Dreier flew to Toronto. He met with an executive from the pension plan at their office. After exchanging cards and conducting a meeting, he asked if he could use a spare conference room. The executive went back to his desk, and Dreier’s prospective investor’s attorney arrived at the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan offices. Dreier pretended to be the man whose card he’d just finagled. The deception went smoothly until the lawyer wanted to talk to someone he knew at the firm.
Dreier was arrested there and extradited back to New York. He was thrown in jail at the Manhattan Correctional Center and shared a cell with a stopped-up toilet and a triple murderer.
He was sentenced to 20 years and claimed to have great remorse. His lawyer said that he took responsibility and went to prison in “a state of grace.” Really?
So what happened to him? In 2025 Joe Biden commuted his sentence and he was released. No information is available about where he is now or what he is doing. I wonder if he has gone straight or is deep into another scheme.
One of the things Dreier said to his interviewer resonates with me. “You know, I discovered that once you cross a grey line it’s much easier to cross a black line.” How many others, having grown up with entitlement and exaggerated expectations, end up crossing the same lines?
John DeDakis
Partners in Crime (the San Diego chapter of Sisters in Crime) was pleased to host John DeDakis to talk about how he went from journalist to thriller writer. He spent 25 years with CNN and interviewed both Ronald Regan and Jimmy Carter. He also was the editor of CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” John was amazingly open about how he not only used his journalism background, but the tragedies in his person life, in his books. Writing helped him deal with his grief at the loss of his sister and his son.
In his most recent novel, Enemies Domestic, DeDakis’s protagonist is a White House press secretary forced to make her extremely personal abort-or-not-to-abort decision in a highly toxic and polarized political fishbowl—all while dealing with an attack on the presidency itself. It’s a terrific thriller and very timely.
What I’ve been Up To
I’ve stuck close to home this month. I’ll do the same next month, as my wife is having knee replacement surgery.
I had a great time with Wynne Leon and Vicki Atkinson on the their podcast, Sharing the Heart of the Matter. Tune in to this link to hear it:
Or go to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@SharingtheHeartoftheMatter
I’ve done a couple of other podcasts with Dan White and James L’Etoile, but they won’t be out until next month’s newsletter.
Do you have a book club?
If you would like me to talk at your club or some other event about Saving Myles or the writing life, please respond to this email or simply email me at carlvonderauauthor@gmail.com. If you are close by, I can come to your meeting. If not, we can talk virtually. I really love to do these, so don’t hesitate to ask.
Finally, if you know someone who would enjoy my book, please buy it. Here is a link.
Until next month,
Carl
