The 'Disappeared' Art

It's hard for me to identify with rich people. For one thing, they have a lot more money than I do.

But what really gets me is their sheer hubris; a sense of entitlement, a belief that the rules don't apply to them, an arrogance that usually trips them up in the end. And that comeuppance is what keeps us little people going.

Hence the fascination with Art Nadel, still referred to as a "well-known Sarasota philanthropist," even though his biggest philanthropic effort appears to have been Art Nadel and Art Nadel alone, since Mrs. Nadel, his family, partners Neil and Chris Moody and his accountant, Michael Zucker, knew NOTHING about the years-in-the-making Ponzi scheme they all were attached to, in one way or another.

While on his self-described 'vacation' immediately after the house of cards collapsed, Nadel apparently visited San Antonio, TX (where he reportedly wrote in a guest book at the Alamo, "Now I know how you guys must have felt."), Hollywood, CA (where he reportedly met with producers to pitch a movie deal about his life story) and San Francisco, CA (where he reportedly took the Alcatraz prison tour seven times, "just to get a feel for the place.")

He wrote that he expected to be known as a "mini-Madoff." I don't know if he likes the distinction of being linked to a $50-billion enterprise or is disappointed that he couldn't steal enough to have Madoff labeled a "mini-Nadel." (Just doesn't have the same ring, does it?)

From what I hear around town, 'mini-Madoff' is one of the kinder things investors are calling Nadel.

Nadel wrote that if "this works out, you can also find me a literary agent." I guess the meeting in Hollywood with the movie moguls didn't pan out the way he had hoped. Too bad, considering the buildup given him by the Feds, calling Nadel, "exceptionally deceitful, brazen, creative and resourceful in achieving his criminal goals." If that doesn't sound like a follow-up role for Leonardo DiCaprio after his 2002 hit "Catch Me If You Can," I don't know what does!

He even signed one letter, "The 'disappeared' Art." How cool is that? Talk about a ready-made book title.....

Magician David Copperfield admits to being contacted by Sarasota financial whiz, Art Nadel, to make him "disappear." Again.