Wall Street arrest closes North Shore charity

SALEM – A Wall Street fraud scheme has closed a major North Shore charitable agency that organized the 2006 record-breaking shofar blow-out in Swampscott.The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation and the Robert I. Lappin 1992 Supporting Foundation abruptly ended all programs Friday, including Youth to Israel, which has sent 170-plus teens to Israel.The foundation also terminated its seven staff members.In a brief press release posted on its website the foundation announced, "The money used to fund the programs of both Foundations was invested with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and all the assets have been frozen by the federal courts.""Mr. Madoff was arrested Thursday morning by the FBI and charged with criminal securities fraud by federal prosecutors.""The money needed to fund the programs of the Lappin Foundations is gone."Madoff, a founder of NASDAQ, was charged with running a $50 billion "Ponzi scheme" in what may rank among the biggest fraud cases ever, according to the Associated Press.Madoff’s website describes him as a major figure in the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the major self-regulatory organization for US broker/dealer firms. His firm was one of the five broker/dealers most closely involved in developing the NASDAQ Stock Market. He has been chairman of the board of directors of the NASDAQ Stock Market as well as a member of the board of governors of the NASD and a member of numerous NASD committees."It is with a heavy heart that I make this announcement," said Robert I. Lappin, Foundation trustee. "The Foundations’ programs have touched thousands of lives over many years in our efforts to help keep our children Jewish."The foundation assisted programs in 23 North Shore communities including Beverly, Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Nahant, Peabody, Salem, Saugus and Swampscott.Among the achievements it funded was the Great Shofar Blowout, enabling the Jewish Continuity Committee to hold the Guinness World Record for most number of shofars blown in unison.The world record was set Sept. 17, 2006, a precursor to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, on Kings Beach in Swampscott. It attracted a crowd of nearly 1,000 people with 386 officially registered shofar blowers coming from all over Massachusetts, other states and Israel.Other 2006-2008 grants on the foundation’s list, which totalled $101,554.75, included theMaccabi Games, $5,700, Ivrit to Grow On, $19,950 and Hebrew Through Music, $3,600, to the Jewish Community Center in Marblehead; Jewish Educator $6,700, Hebrew Through Music $3,450, Masoret, $1,000, Teaching Hebrew Through Music $5,250 and Judaic Specialist, $2,187.50, to the Jewish Community Center in Peabody.