The real estate investment firm Sterling Equities, co-founded by New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, had money invested with Bernard Madoff’s firm, CNBC has confirmed.

“Among our various investments, we have accounts managed by Madoff Securities,” the company said, in a statement. “We are shocked by recent events and, like all investors, will continue to monitor the situation.”

Madoff had $17 billion in his investment advisory firm last month, but the 70-year-old former NASDAQ chairman told his employees earlier this week that he had actually lost $50 billion in what he said was a ponzi scheme. Madoff told authorities that he “paid investors with money that wasn’t there.”

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The question now is how much money was invested? If we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars, which is not out of the question, you’d have to think it could affect the Mets ability to further itself this off-season beyond the pitching moves they’ve already made.

Update: CNBC's David Faber is now reporting that Wilpon and Katz, though their investment entity Sterling Equities, could have lost as much as $300 million with Madoff.

New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, GMAC LLC Chairman J. Ezra Merkin and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman were among the dozens of seemingly sophisticated investors who placed money on what could prove to be history's largest financial scam.

Bernard Madoff may have stolen $50 billion from clients, a group that included Sterling Equities, the real estate company of Mets owner Fred Wilpon.

Still, Jeff Wilpon said the family's holdings are diversified and that the loss will not affect operations of the high-spending team, whose $138 million Opening-Day payroll was third in Major League Baseball.

"The individual partners lost some money at Madoff. It doesn't affect the Mets. It doesn't affect the Citi Field project. It doesn't affect SNY or any of our other operating businesses," Jeff Wilpon said.

He vehemently stated the team was "uncategorically, totally, completely not for sale."

"Not a piece of it, not a part of it, none of it," he said.

FTN wrote:

Bernard Madoff may have stolen $50 billion from clients, a group that included Sterling Equities, the real estate company of Mets owner Fred Wilpon.

Still, Jeff Wilpon said the family's holdings are diversified and that the loss will not affect operations of the high-spending team, whose $138 million Opening-Day payroll was third in Major League Baseball.

"The individual partners lost some money at Madoff. It doesn't affect the Mets. It doesn't affect the Citi Field project. It doesn't affect SNY or any of our other operating businesses," Jeff Wilpon said.

He vehemently stated the team was "uncategorically, totally, completely not for sale."

"Not a piece of it, not a part of it, none of it," he said.

Phan In Phlorida wrote:

FTN wrote:

Bernard Madoff may have stolen $50 billion from clients, a group that included Sterling Equities, the real estate company of Mets owner Fred Wilpon.

Still, Jeff Wilpon said the family's holdings are diversified and that the loss will not affect operations of the high-spending team, whose $138 million Opening-Day payroll was third in Major League Baseball.

"The individual partners lost some money at Madoff. It doesn't affect the Mets. It doesn't affect the Citi Field project. It doesn't affect SNY or any of our other operating businesses," Jeff Wilpon said.

He vehemently stated the team was "uncategorically, totally, completely not for sale."

"Not a piece of it, not a part of it, none of it," he said.

Only their soul...

We have months to see how the Yankees mesh, what scabs they develop, what injuries they must overcome, whether the expectations make the game joyless despite the joy that Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Sabathia bring to the ballpark every day. We do know that the Red Sox and Mets are back in the Yankees' shadow; Boston still has close to $40 million to work with, and the Mets claim their baseball operations will not be harmed by the Bernie Madoff scandal, even though Madoff handled some of the revenues the Mets put aside to fund deferred contracts and some other payments.

ReadingPhilly wrote:one of these guys offed himself already (not the mets guy, but the guilty guy)

FTN wrote:

ReadingPhilly wrote:one of these guys offed himself already (not the mets guy, but the guilty guy)

It was a guy who had a fund with a 1.4 billion invested with Madoff.

philliesr98 wrote:Ok, dumb question here.... where did this 50 billion dollars go?

How do you make 50 Billion dollars dissapear?

Granted he might have paid out to some investors, but was this guy the baller of all ballers?

At 70 years old and no conscious, I can only imagine what I'd spend that much money on...

lethal wrote:

philliesr98 wrote:Ok, dumb question here.... where did this 50 billion dollars go?

How do you make 50 Billion dollars dissapear?

Granted he might have paid out to some investors, but was this guy the baller of all ballers?

At 70 years old and no conscious, I can only imagine what I'd spend that much money on...

There was never any $50 billion dollars. It was all on paper, mostly fake investment gains.

philliesr98 wrote:

lethal wrote:

philliesr98 wrote:Ok, dumb question here.... where did this 50 billion dollars go?

How do you make 50 Billion dollars dissapear?

Granted he might have paid out to some investors, but was this guy the baller of all ballers?

At 70 years old and no conscious, I can only imagine what I'd spend that much money on...

There was never any $50 billion dollars. It was all on paper, mostly fake investment gains.

wait what? People gave this guy real money to invest i assume, not fake money...

The gains is what was fake not the money given to invest...

lethal wrote:

philliesr98 wrote:

lethal wrote:

philliesr98 wrote:Ok, dumb question here.... where did this 50 billion dollars go?

How do you make 50 Billion dollars dissapear?

Granted he might have paid out to some investors, but was this guy the baller of all ballers?

At 70 years old and no conscious, I can only imagine what I'd spend that much money on...

There was never any $50 billion dollars. It was all on paper, mostly fake investment gains.

wait what? People gave this guy real money to invest i assume, not fake money...

The gains is what was fake not the money given to invest...

Right. I haven't seen any reports on what part of the $50B was real money actually invested and what part was fake investment gains. The $50B was the supposed end value of the portfolio when he was caught.

You're familiar with how a Ponzi scheme works, right? Some of the early investors withdrew their money and they were paid using the money from the latter investors. Some of the money went to paying off day to day operations of the outfit and the recruiting budget, some went to lining the pockets of Madorf and his family/employees. Nevertheless, that $50B figure is not a real total of what was lost.