The Rise and Fall of Bernard L. Madoff

One suspects Mr. Madoff is not alone in this very crooked enterpise.

SHOCKING.... A good person ate up by greed

Another source claims his Scheme began a little prior to 2005. That puts Bernard at about 65 years old.

What could possibly drive a person with that much success and accumulated wealth to go out like this?

Utterly shameful and disgusting.

My 80 yr.old mother just lost her husband 6 months ago and now every penny that she had as a result of investing with Madoff. I'd love to help out, but I recently lost my position working on site in real estate sales. We are devastated! Where do we go now?

What a pathetic article. Bernie is to blame. According to indictment, Bernie is a thief, a crook, a bad guy. It's not that complicated. A fraud. And reporters wonder whether it is lack of regulation that is to blame? Perhaps... But to paraphrase shakespeare, the problem is not in the stars, but in Bernie.
BTW, look into Elizabeth Monrad, facing 20 years to life for bad accounting judgement in a matter where she acted as CFO for General Re, sought no personal aggrandizement, and yet faces a longer sentence than this self-dealing, lying,defrauding piece of garbage, PONZI MADOFF. That is a story worthy of a journalist, not this drivel.

Hogey,

I suspect you're right.

Benny

The Walter Noel's , Philip Toub, Haegler's and others who were so great in promoting the Fairfield Sentry and the Fairfield Greenwich Group as a family business should be brought to court along. They just did lie about their Due Diligence and Risk monitoring capabilities to all investors. They got your money and ....enjoy it

Ready for another round of write downs, liquidity crisises, and forced liquidations in the hedge fund industry?

Did I hear anyone say "ripple effect"?

Fifty billion dollars -- leveraged -- is a lot of money.

Is this writer for real?
Are you Madoff' lawyer?
Madoff is a big scam, 50 billions, 50,000,000,000

Diversify.

Duh.

Anyone who did not was just being greedy.

Surprise.

Greed.. I'm really wondering what was the SEC doing! This ponzi scheme will not happened overnight, it's $50 Billion, it's not $5.

Always thought it would be nice to have savings and watch it grow. But at least with my puny, less than $10,000 total retirement savings in a fixed but guaranteed asset account (ERISA 403B), I don't stress out or panic that one day I'll lose it all through some market fluctuation or fraud. The Bible is right, "Today has enough trouble of it's own." Not having money is maybe less stressful than having it taken away.

I just sat for 3 hours to reaffirm my NASD license so that I can continue in the financial services industry. The whole exam is on ethical conduct, fraud and using good judgement. What a joke and a travesty for all of us who are ethical and hard working and take seriously the idea of our fiduciary responsibilities.

No one could have been more shocked than I to see the lead sentence by a Business Week reported begin "No one could have been more shocked than me."

I don't know in what a world we live. We can flush down 50.000 M USD and we don't have 30.000 to Stop Hunger in the world.

Something is very wrong!

Lets face it, what AmeriKKKa needs is less regulation and lower taxes.

Ahahahahahahahahahahahaah

Suckers.............

It's a sad statement that the writer's sympathies and first thoughts are with the perpetrator and his circles rather the many people who were lied to and will suffer from this outrageous fraud.

"It’s ironic that a man who campaigned for greater transparency within NASDAQ should end up being charged with fraud."

He is no victim. Most criminals want to see other criminals hanged.

I think it should be noted that the typical Ponzi scheme is very difficult if not impossible to run at this level for this length of time. What may have happened is the fund was legitimately run for some time, but then the advisers either ran into a bad patch in their portfolio strategy and deluded themselves into thinking they could turn things around.

The market's turned down sharply and redemptions came in too quickly which dried up the reserve capital making the problem even worse.

Managers with the background and reputations of this sad man often can't face failure so they bury themselves in denial and the problem grows faster and faster than they can manager to cover it all up.

He's out on 10,000 million bail - Whose money is that? It angers me that he's sitting home in his comfy upper east side apartment because he had 10 mill for his bail!

Hey
There are many of us who loved and respected Bernie and he stolen EVERYTHING from us. I cannot believe he was a monster - but I will never forgive him for stealing my family's money.

Still, he was brilliant in many ways. He has a wonderful family who deserve our support. Something (probably his ego) made him dig this hole for us.

Let's try to be human beings - not judges!

What about a bail out for Bernie? After all the government is bailing out crooked bankers, insurance companies and stock brokerage firms. Can't we have 15 billion for Bernie. He was a nice guy at least. Some of the others were not.

Call for a bail out for Bernie! Its the American way!

Glad this is happening. Hedge funds dictate much of the stock market boom and bust of the year 2000. Now that the economy is bad, companies who cook their books are getting the oss handed to them. Many more will show their tails.

Since I wrote this blog post, several readers have accused me of being an apologist for Bernie Madoff. I don't think that's true. What I was trying to point out was that Madoff was not a seedy stock operator; he was a respected member of the financial community. That's what makes his alleged crime all the more surprising.

Others have asked why I use words such as alleged. In the U.S., no one is guilty until convicted by a jury of his peers.

Why haven't I written about the victims? I don't know any of the victims. I did know Madoff for a time in the 1980s on a professional basis.

Laws never prevent fraud by those determined to commit it, but I'll stand by my assertion that the lack of regulation of the hedge fund industry is largely to blame for this financial fiasco.

Finally, thanks to the reader who caught my grammatical error. In the era of Web 2.0, we're all contributing to this Web site, and I sincerely appreciate constructive criticism.

Readers should realize that I do have control over the content of comments posted and have not approved those with anti-Semitic statements. Fraud isn't committed by members of a single religious or ethnic group. It's an equal opportunity employer, despite what some people may believe. Best, Monica

HOW CAN THIS THEIF BE BAILED OUT .. ALL HIS ASSETS SHOULD BE SEIZED... HES FAR WORSE THAN ENRON AND AIG... HE AND EVERYBODY HE SUPPORTED WITH THE STOLEN MONEY SHOULD BE STRIPPED OF THEIR ASSETS... ITS ALL STOLEN ... MAKE HIM / THEM PAY ... CROOOOK !!!!!!!!!!!

The rise and fall of Bernard Madoff? No the rise and fall of the SEC and FoHF's.

I lost all my savings. I would like to be part for of a class action lawsuit. Could somebody please give this info. I wonder even if my name shows up in any of this crook books.

I agree...with others.Bailing him out on (10 M stolen money).Great, he can enjoy the Jewish holidays and say farewell to his family . Give the codes of the accounts overseas...and then commit suicide. We have seen this before( Enron). He will have taken care of his family..no worries!

I suppose if it were not for the banking crisis B. Madoff's investment scheme would still be running as well as ever.

Harry Markopoulos in 1999 send a warning letter to the SEC talking about B. Madoff investments qualifying them as the biggest Ponzi scheme ever!!!

SEC missionned Friehling & Horowitz bureau to investigate on this matter. After investigation they found everything OK ! ! !

My family has been devastated by this. This year our 70 year old family business shut down and now we are dealing with this. We reside in Metro Detroit, the nation's open wound. Madoff should do the right thing and rid the world of his presence. Read: The Asian executives that took their own lives because of bad judgment and errors that cost so many people so much!

I just simply don't understand why are you trying to show his good side. He's a nasty money bandit. No mercy for him should be given. All his assets (including those of his family) should be seized and redistributed to the victims of his scam. He is an awful scambag and should rot in prison! SEC is at guilt as well. I would get rid of that funny money eater!

Remember the old adage: "If the deal looks too good, there's something wrong." If you're already in, get out.

Mandoff may have started out with good intentions but succumbed to greed and power. Remember the saying... ".Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely".

No one man or entity should be given sole authority over so many Billions of dollars, affecting tens of thousands of our citizen's lives. It only makes sence to me to have oversite if not regulations in place, in situations like this.

No doubt Mandoff was very generous (and could afford to be) to those in a position to question his motive and actions. This was going on far too long for his underhand dealings not to have surfaced before now.

Do I hear RIPPLE EFFECT???

Yes, I too hear ripple effect and MORE fall out. I also doubt very much that Mandoff is alone. His rise and fall will no doubt shine a light on others out there who are doing the very same or similar thing. Shameful!!

Monica,
You article is distressing, this is a con artist who stole the life savings of the elderly, of foundations, of people/s life savings, he did not simply rob from the elite. This is the world's biggest crime (since 1930's). This man needs to be incarcerated for the rest of his life for this atrocious act. It does not matter if he did a few nice, or pragmatic things along the way, this is a pathological liar who endangers anyone around him. He is deceiptful, he is inept, anything he did at Nasdaq should be called into question, put under the microscope, dissected. You do not get to turn into a pathological con artist one day, it is a lifetime persona. The fact that you were conned and seduced as a young journalist does not bear any relevance to this story of a deceiptful, dishonest, shameful person. It is disrespectful to those who were conned.

Yes this article is drivel: "He was so charming." et al. Another tour de force from Business Weak. Where are the muckrakers?

My family has known Bernard Madoff for over 30 years. We never expected this in a million years. I'm a teenager. I am affected by this whole situation. Many at madoff's company. We have NOTHING left. Now I am moving in with relatives, because I can no longer afford to pay for my house. Neither can my parents. I agree with John Thrower. The people that benefitted from this, the people that Bernard L. Madoff supported should suffer...not the average person, us, the little guys. They should pay for all they have done. I read on the news, that bernie --(not capital because he's a piece of crap that no one cares about) --faces up to 20 years in federal prison, with a $5 million dollar bail. Big Woop..his family is flippin wealthy...$5 million is nothing to them. If I had my way, he would face up to 20 years (like he'll live that long anyway) but face up to a 100 million dollar bail. I hope that when in prison, he bends over to pick up the soap.

Bernie has admitted to his guilt, but I suspect something else is wrong here. I can't believe that he operated alone and his family members were not aware of this scheme. Its time for them and the rest of his staff to come forward and confess to their involvement.

Well, Madoff is an oldschool crook. Thus, he didnt really get into all the accountability transparency responsibility jargon that they place so much emphasis these days...

Interesting ... how many more to come? In the good years, everything is going vertically up. Nobody seems to care about risk management, controls etc so long as money is being made and this, that and what ever index is increasing. Many come to believe they can be God or are God (some are pleasant people, others are arrogant). When it starts to go wrong and turns against them, they play for higher stakes in the belief they can still win. Remember Nick Leeson and the management at Barrings

This tale focuses on a common investment pitfall. I call it stealing. It was a normal scam since it appealed to the victim’s common sense and trust. Read "A Thief's Tale" at http://www.financialtales.com

How is it that somebody who through fraud steals $50 BILLION DOLLARS can get 20 years in jail and up to MAXIMUM FINE OF 5 MILLION? That leaves $4,999,000,000 unaccounted for and him being 70 years old makes for a nice inheritence. Rob the corner store at gunpoint for $20 and shoot the clerk gets you 20. He and all the employees including their families should lose everything. They all most likely help spend it, such a small company and all were in the dark highly unlikely!

2008 has to go down as a year with some of the most unbelievable headlines in my lifetime. Not to mention this latest scheme with Bernard Madoff. Before this day, I had never heard of him. Ironically, his name could suggest that he'd "bern" folks, as he "made-off" with billions. Maximum of 20 years and a fine of $5M seems like a pretty light sentence considering the lives of people he touched/ruined and those who were affiliated with him. How could so many smart people have fallen prey to the old adage that "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is."

50 Billion minus 5 million equals 49,995,000 Martin Man. Are one of Madoff's investors?

"The worst offender is the best enforcer". That truth allowed Madoff to urge "transparency" while taking full advantage of the lack of transparency required on his investments. He was also well aware of the self-imposed...and hugely effective impotence...of the SEC. When has it ever prevented a fraud or discovered one that had not yet been exposed only after devastating losses? Every one know the markets must have credibility and integrity to properly function, and the SEC does nothing to increase the confidence that either exists.

This is a perfect reflection of our financial condition as a nation. Those in power (whether in government or business) are becoming more corrupt than any time in our nation's history. It's very sad.

Excuse me gentlemen (No Accountant & Martin Man) but you both need to go back to school.

$50,000,000,000
- $5,000,000
_______________
$49,995,000,000

Any way you do the math the fine does NOT equal the crime.
I'm sure that whatever assets remain will be seized and divided up between those who Bern defrauded.
The widespread implications of this crime will have destructive and long lasting global implications to charities & individual investors to international banks.

For those who were invested with him:
"The Honorable Louis L. Stanton, Federal Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, has appointed Lee S. Richards of the law firm Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP receiver over the assets and accounts of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BMIS”) as per the attached order:
http://www.madoff.com/letters/Signedorder.pdf

Should you have further questions, please contact the Receiver at the following number: 888-727-8695"

Madoff’s operation as it was described today was outside the control of basic government regulation for most of the time he was operating, only after 2006 did he come into consideration. He was not in the center but off to the side with only the best connections as cover. He was not even a hedge fund but fell outside that and he dealt with only the more adept financial people. Because no serious complain was issued against him he had a free skate until his collapsed.

It was on my mind last night and today early morning business shows were talking about new Sarbanes-Oxley regulations that would cover financial instruments. The main point would be the signature of the CEO and CFO to certify that issued paper debt has the market value it says it has. I’d also add the Accounting Firm and Debt Rating Agency being held to signing that certification.

We now need a Federal clearing house for financial debt instruments and commercial paper. With transparencies and regulation and some rate of insurance collateral set against the insurance.

I think the Fed sits near this but its never been clear to me how far its responsibility goes. Its now too bad the Fed and Treasury put the $7.4 trillion where they put it. Because those banks may need to contribute that money back to the Federal Agency that insures their commercial debt. The whole thing needs a fix that hold it on the ground while real investment and growth can give real returns.

What is it about today’s society that allows someone to steal $50,000,000,000 and if convicted the perpetrator could receive a 20 year jail sentence and a fine of $5,000,000.

With such big fraud dollar numbers being bandied about in 2008, the enormity of the crimes being committed is lost in a sea of zeros. So let’s put the little equation above into perspective. $50,000,000,000 is the equivalent of stealing $1,000 from every man, woman and child in a country the size of Great Britain.

What this little equation also tells us is that equivalent punishment for stealing a paltry $5,000,000 would be just 18 hours in jail and a fine of $25.

Now there's an incentive to join the stealing elite if ever there was one.

I knew a guy who was related to a guy who knew Mr. Madoff. He was nothing like this in person or to the general public; always a complete gentleman. But apparently word got around that he was a complete pervert behind closed doors; a real degenerate. I don’t think this has much bearing on what he did, but I certainly wouldn’t excuse his behavior either way. I’d almost like to think he’d enjoy prison.

Without wasting any money and time,"Hang that SOB".

This is looking more and more like a Hollywood block buster. Mr. Madoff can sell the book and movie rights and make you cry again.

It appears that Mr. Madoff's strategy worked. His promise of high paying dividends provided a high ROI, for him personally and those very close to him. The latest financial history is showing that life is short and those who want to play it large will do anything to make it in the short.

After watching, listening, and reading to these financially educated market savy investors, players, managers, and journalists I can't see how the concept of capitalism in this country and worldwide will continue. Where are those who write the rules and enforce the laws- how could something like this happen when the bells of warning were sounding off as early as 1999. It is ironic that the people damaged represent those looking for every possible angle to profit. Obviously one should carefully evaluate where their investments are made prior to accepting the coaxing of some golden boy or girl financial manager. If you listen carefully you can hear the whole financial investment system swirling, slowly going down the drain. Please read the following;

Capitalism is an economic system in which land, capital goods, and other resources, are owned, operated and traded chiefly by private individuals or corporations for the purpose of profit. In a capitalist system, private control of these productive enterprises is protected by the rule of law. A capitalist legal system protects the exchange and distribution of capital between legal or private persons, which is driven by competition and profit-maximization,[1][2] and where investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods, commodities and services are determined by private decision in a market economy[3] rather than through central economic planning by the state. Human labor power is for sale in the market as one of the many commodities.[1] Pure capitalism, conceived as a self-regulating and self-adjusting economy which does not have significant economic intervention by government[4] has never existed in practice.[5]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, you can read the entire definition at...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

How does one become chairman of NASD ? Was madoff appointed ? If so..l.; who appointed him & when ?

Eliz.
December 13, 2008 11:02 PM

Hey
There are many of us who loved and respected Bernie and he stolen EVERYTHING from us. I cannot believe he was a monster - but I will never forgive him for stealing my family's money.

Still, he was brilliant in many ways. He has a wonderful family who deserve our support. Something (probably his ego) made him dig this hole for us.

Let's try to be human beings - not judges!

Well I guess Mr. Madoff has access to the internet.

Uhm....you can't be human and jugdemental at the same time??

Hey Chris P

Youre a "little guy"??????????????????

Youre a TEENAGER and you own your own house??????????????

You have GOT to get a life. Its people like you that make this kind of crap possible.

no nick, the kind of people that make crap like this possible are the people who invest heavily in whatever market it is that they want to invest in (commodities, futures, stocks, fixed income, et.) without understanding the fundamentals of how the market works, why prices go up and down, what economic factors affect that certain branch of the overall market their invested in, etc (which is basically what people do when they hand their money over to money managers). Oddly enough though without these stupid investors the market wouldn't be what it is today (in a good sense). so to all you new uninformed investors out there who read this and plan on throwing your money into the next big thing you hear about, don't be another grain of sand in the castle, freggin learn about the market and learn how to invest in the fashion that fits your personal needs. you don't really need money managers. all it takes is a little effort and ability. and if you have no ability, then for god's sake, now's as good a time as any, just stick your money in index funds. for every 100 people that hit it big, theirs 100 people who lost a whole heap (in today's market, its obviously worse)

Greetings,
First let me offer my condolences to those who have been "kicked-to-the-curb" by this man who is so beloved, it seems, by the Zionist Community. It must be a terrible feeling to be crushed so low at this time of the year when the holiday season is upon us. I can never know how any of you feel because I am a member of the poor working-class. But I do no this fact if is sounds to good to be true...well you know the rest. My heart goes out to all of the elderly in the Zionist Community who have lost everything. I fear the sad reality will be nothing on Wall Street will change in terms of protecting investors. The regulators will just figure out a way to punk investors more slyly. May God give those who have lost everything some comfort.
Peace be upon you always
Ouogahdo Kumasi D'Dotopu

Jail for the rest of his poor, poor life.
Nothing worse than these white collar thieves.
Regards from Amsterdam,

Taco Joustra

Promeses, promeses, promeses

You can't cheat an honest man. Quote. Meaning pay an honest price, and you won't stick it to somebody, and they can't stick it to you. Nobody can guarantee anything in the stock market. Duh. Those people thought they were special. Sorry. Forget about personalities, look at the facts. Stock market=chaotic. Guaranteed xyz=fraud
I saw this ponzi scheme explained on tv-same exact thing-take from one, give to another. This isn't the last you've seen of Mr Ponzarelli. "I guarantee it"tm

Why isn't Madoof in jail? He's no different than a guy who walks into a bank with a gun and a note. Based on the havoc that he's reaped, there is no way he should get bail. And there is no way he acted alone. I know he's trying to pull a Stew Leonard and save his kids from jail, but c'mon.

Stop trying to blame the SEC. Madoff was most surely colluding with others which makes it very difficult, if not impossible to detect fraud.

Do start scrutinizing the fund of fund business!

Really, Monica?? "the lack of regulation of the hedge fund industry" was largely to blame for this fiasco??? How about personal accountability? Regulation is needed to keep people like Maddoff from doing what he did - but its purpose is to catch people who initiate wrong behavior, not to substitute for a man's own conscience. Police officers catch criminals, but they don't keep the criminals from attempting to break the law.

Bernie Maddoff is a grown up, and should know right from wrong. He is solely to blame for his own actions.

So SAD...
we should try to get rid of other Mandoff's who r controlling world economy in the same manner.

I am not rich or Jewish. I grew up below the poverty level, worked for 28 years for the same company. My job was outsourced in 1998, pre Bush immagine that. I lost approximately 70% of my life savings in this mess.
I am angry, and pray that justice will be served on Madoff. However, to watch so many people play armchair QB is amazing.
I don't have time for it. I have to start over and try to recoup as much as I can of my losses.
You all need to be careful that your houses are not made of glass!!!

Bernard Madoff is 70 years old.

He's almost dead folks.

HE WINS!!!! EVERYBODY ELSE FAILS!!!!!

Madoff ripped off $50 billion from wealthy people....HAHAHAHAHHAHA

proof of the bankruptcy of the "free market system ". It never instilled an ounce of responsibility into the heads of these parasites! The problem is in the electronic world that we live, morality has sunken lower than in the Dark Ages. What good is technology when humans have not evolved morally?

I just want to know why Mr. Madoff isn't behind bars instead of being on house arrest. And still able to have freedom. If it was anybody else we would being sitting in jail enjoying a good meal and sleeping in a nice soft bed. Why???????????

If anybody deserves the death penalty, it is Bernard Madoff. Hundreds of poor Americans (and others) will undoubtedly die as a result of the closing hundreds of charities and non-profits that lost money to his scheme.

This is not just fraud. This man's actions reach far further than business and money alone- his business practices will destroy the lives of real human individuals.

Why do we allow monsters of capitalism such as Madoff to live? This man has done hundreds of times more harm to the human race than even a murderer (One could argue that he is, in fact, a murderer for this). We need to start holding people SERIOUSLY accountable for their actions when we live in a world where you really can kill a person through finance.

what happened to mr madoff should teach all of us a lesson - the hard way

what happened to mr madoff should teach all of us a lesson - the hard way. people who have lots of money becomes greedy & they want to have more .....

This is horrible..but haven't people listened to the number one rule of investing (gambling)?? Never put all you money on one horse or in one stock/fund/mgr.

This is sickening...

The moral of the story - as has been said - don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Those who did, have only themselves to blame.

when the dust finally settles it will surely be disclosed that there were several conspirators to this horrific crime. As an accountant, I have often been embarassed by the weakness of the profession. I am certain that, in time, it will be disclosed that several parties did not act as they should have during the several year period that the crime took place. As my old boss would say "less than 1% of audits are audit failures". My response is that less than 1% of companies have some type of fraud. Therefore 100% of audits are audit failures. This is another bad mark against the accounting profession.

This will take a while to worm its way through the courts. So, don't look for much of a return on your investments. Court costs come off the top. You'll be left with chump change as a fleet of big time attorneys, with the court's blessing, line their pockets first.

The great audacity of it all is the Good Old USA has made salesmanship the greatest asset of the Free Enterprise Trading System !What was Bernard Madoff peddling at the Bazaar Market of his ? More like a Thief of Baghdad !!!!!!

Shell Shocked American Spectator
Boston,MA,USA

Be cautious of business people that smile and are really congenial to you. Crooks like that always kill you with kindness and have a way of making you feel very special. I don't want to ever feel THAT special.

Charlie ~
PLeeease.... How can you possibly believe that
"only the wealthy lost money" hahahha .. Your kidding right? ...
First off.. If it had been
(which it wasn't) it was money that they have worked for and earned. Sounds to me ....maybe you are jealous of the more fortunate. Myself I lost my 16 yr.old son on July,29th 5 mos ago, I had a career as a flight attendant only quit to be at home.. Not rich here.. It angers me to see all these lives, of all ages, and even charities destroyed! News Flash Everyone ... NOT JUST the wealthy people got burnt. For those who don't have respect go kick rocks!!

you'all have got to be seriously uninformed or totally naive. regulation?? hello! what about our food supply,our drug administration,all financial regulators,the pentagon,etc etc.. wake up! dont be surprised one day if the madoffs disappear leaving only a severed tracking device on his bed.

I am a small time investor and not effected by B.Madoff. My question is simple where's the BEEF? No one from the S.E.C. or any other oversite commission or committee looked into this matter prior to this explosion. Wow Unbelievable. To use an analogy, perhaps obscure, the I.R.S. has caught a minor mistake in my 2006 taxes last year which would be 2008. As a result of this $900 oversite,I am paying, something like a 150% penalty for the next three (3) years. The I.R.S. even caught HR Block in a mistake on my taxes, of course in their favor. I feel they are looking over my shoulder for spelling mistakes as I do my current taxes, in real time. If I am not mistaken there are more people paying taxes (although that is going down) then investing. I don't get it. This kind of stuff will scare off many investors.

I'm sorry but I have no tears or sympathy for anyone "taken" by fraudulent money managers like Madoff who promised the sun, moon, the stars and the capacity to satisfy even the most greedy customer's lust for the best return. It's a story of double-edged, equally shared greed and lust by Madoff and those he frauded.

You got taken. Tough luck. If YOUR greed had been in check, you'd still have the money like we do at our home. If someone offered me a 19-22% return, I'd first ask how they did it... not, "can you sign me up".

Or is this about a bailout for more ill-prepared investors making poor judgments? Sorry, this is ONE deal the US taxpayers shouldn't remedy. Good for the market. Good example to keep others honest.

I am extremely surprised that any one can sympathize with Madoff. I suppose he was good at what he did which is why he got away with these terrible deeds. But in this situation, how do you act humanely towards someone who doesn't seem to want to act humanely to hundreds of investors?

'Obviously, Madoff lost sight of the fact that there are some things worth more than money in this world — namely, your standing within the community.'

I found this the stranged sentence in the article, which I, by the way, found very good.

I'm of the opinion that the thing more valuable than money at all times is the matching between your inner beliefs - morals - and your outer actions. Everyone knows when moral bounds are crossed and I believe that since we are all aware of these moral bounds, we have an obligation to use these moral bounds as a lead to our outer actions.

poor bernie, sad he shares my name. what is sadder is that there are people who feel sorry for him. those who feel for him are destined to be ripped off by someone like him! most of this industry is the same, people trying to take other's hard earned money. investigate them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MADE-OFF
It is all in the name.

father, friend, investor, Thief, FALL Guy before the jewelry, there was a clognation of printed personally forged by bernie him self. Thats impossible ! he's taking the fall for his brother & son's and the rest of the people that worked w/ & for madoff.

Madoff's story is one that shows the basic flaw of the human nature-evil lurks within each of us and will scramble to the surface whatever the cost to steal and destroy.Also its a lesson that the most secure of the world's system is not foolproof the crunch down on the world's economy calls for something that works,the words of Jesus do not lay treasures on earth cannot ring more true. i pray for comfort for those who were victims of thiss unfortunate ponzi scheme.

Anyone who "invested" any money with this sleaze ball CROOK was GREEDY. NEVER put most/all of your money in one investment vehicle. That is STUPID ,GREEDY and very shortsighted. Diversify people. Spread your money into different SAFE investments. Yes ,the SAFE,so-called 'boring" investments ARE safer in the long run. The sexy,high return "investments" are very short lived and ,as Madoff and others of his ilk have proven, FRAUDULENT,CROOKED and an ILLUSION !

you are all crazy.....put that [guy] in jail!!!!!!

i really hate this guy, my mom invested in his company, and shes doesnt even have enough money, her rich friend just helped her out by doin that, now they're both screwed over.
all my moms money is gone, and now we have to move out of the house, it really sucks.

i hope madoff gets what he deserves.

punishment

People like Madoff should get the death sentence-he was the cause of the French guy killing himself

http://www.madoff.com/claimspackages/customer/Madoff_Letter_to_Customers.pdf

Scam of the century..

I didn't even know this guy until I saw a goify SNL skit. $50 Billion. I mean, I can't even say certain things about the President w/out the FBI, CIA & SWAT showing up at my house in less than 30 minutes in full fledged gear w/helicopters over my house & the full 9.

What does the Sec actually regulate??? Is there any type of "police" looking out for thieves like Bernie or are their hands getting greased too? The only reason he got caught is b/c of bad economic times. If the market was still good, he would die a Wall Street Legend.

Sad. That no matter how good someone has it, they're always looking for more.

Remember...."pigs get killed, hogs get slaughtered."

I don't care how "good of a man he was in the '80's"......there were also good men who sold white powder to only the wealthy. Then it became a hot commodity to all.

These men were called cocaine dealers.

The diversity of these postings, that tell of both Madoff's healthy and sociopathic behavior, describe what a mildly chronically manic personality, which science calls a "hyperthymic" personality, looks like. I have a lot of webpages on them, and one of these, at http://home.att.net/~s.l.keim/About_Us-Sociopathy.htm , tells of how you could distinguish serious Hyperthymic Personality Disorder from sociopathy, by the fact that those with HPD tend to be healthy if not exemplary most of the time, but, when they feel like doing destructive things, go ahead and do them insanely impulsively even if they hurt themselves.

"Obviously, Madoff lost sight of the fact that there are some things worth more than money in this world — namely, your standing within the community."

Excuse me? LOST SIGHT? "Standing with the community?" What is truly pathetic is how every analyst completely fails to acquire any wisdom from the collapse of this man's fraud.

Please visit SuperLogoz.com and click on the C.E.C section to purchase a Bernie Made-off T-shirt. With every purchase, I will make a donation to the charity or foundation set up to help those affected by this scam.

The thing that gets me about him is that he is so obviously enjoying all of this. It is almost as though having been discovered is a dream come true. He can go to his grave(which he's not going to do anytime soon and certainly not by his own hand), content and secure in the knowledge that the world now knows him as one of the greatest crooks of all time. If he had died first, he would have been cheated of the pleasure of knowing that he had made all of the people he hoodwinked feel like idiots for having trusted him. If that sly little grin he wears in public isn't the face of total narcissism, I don't know what is. Lives ruined, charities bankrupted, and he could care less about all of that. I bet he reads all of this stuff. As if to admire his own reflection.

That's a great reading my wonderful Americans:"honorable, honest and pure as a child's tear"
That's because of ALL of you with greed in your hamburgers' heart Bernie got Number One in the scam.
He is no ALONE!!! Stop be American Idiots! Ladies and Gentlemen why are you lying to yourself? You have degrees, MBA, Ph. D, different Licenses, like NASD.
“The whole exam is on ethical conduct, fraud and using good judgement.”( Eileen cohen December 13, 2008 02:43 PM)
I love you Eileen! And just advise forget all about the crap you were taught.

mash up website that combines bernie's client list (searchable) with google maps
http://www.uslaw.com/madoff/

He was 25 years after his time.
Imagine if he had have been 'recruited' (on commission) as Minister for Finance in Berlin - circa 1934.
All objectives could have been quickly achieved with a minimum of fuss, merely by pen and ink.

Clawbacks are going to make "bankrupt" investors totally destitute. They are coming and nobody in a position of power is doing anything to stop it. Haven't the victims suffered enough already? Hasn't Picard made enough money with his "clawing" 3% commission on all the money he brings back in. Where are the representatives to protect us from him? First Madoff, then Picard. Can the IRS be far behind? Let's not just impoverish the victims, but make them so poor they have to sell their homes in a depressed market. Clearly the world has gone crazy.

Yet Bernie Madoff is out on bail at home and not in jail?

Author of All of Yesterdays Tomorrows

Without a doubt,Madoff is the Crook of Crooks. However,you must agree he pulled the ultimate Ponzi home run, clearly "out of the park"! He had the balls to pull it off to the tune of $70 Billion,in some ways I am in awe! With a permanent change of residence to a jail cell,Madoff should pull the trigger the day before court,with the middle finger upright,then he'd have the last laugh.

Imprison this [scoundrel] and distribute his stolen assets to those who need the money. This is simply SHAMEFUL! In other countries, he would be executed for his avarice. WHY was oversight so incredible lax to allow a wolf like this to be in charge of the henhouse?? Of course I blame this morally corrupt scumbag, but I also fault a system that allowed him to perpetrate his crimes. Imprison or execute this thief and distrubute his stolen assets to those who need the money.

Bailout 2008, a poem by David Jeffrey:

Like a bloodied warrior,

laying broken and torn.

Like a dying soldier, hopeless and forlorn.

But the blood, it be green,

the color of money.

And the soldier is an economy,

and it is anything but funny.

Broken are it’s people and shattered are their dreams.

Thanks to the ultra rich and their full proof schemes.

It is a tragedy with more pain to come.

Finance will be Hell, and their wills will be done.

http://www.voicesnet.org/allpoemsoneauthor.aspx?memberid=982900010

People like "poor Bernie" deserve to bne stripped or EVERYTHIJNG as does ALL of his family. Do you HONESTLY think they had NO knowledge of his fraud?? HELLOO.. The scumbag ought to be executed at high noon in public. People like him are worse than a murderer. They dont destroy a single family, they destroy thousands of families. Matter of fact, death would be too good for him. He needs to be punked out in prison a;ong with his wife and sons who mos assuredly knew all along.

OMG he is such a loser! it is soo much money! no 5$ not 500$ not 555000$ not any of those!! and guess what?! 50 billion was just an estimate! its really 65 BILLION!!! or moree....
i cant believe this! can u? in this economy. he is a creep.
sir go to the bronx. live in a freaking garage with no food for 10 days! DIE! and get us back that money and like honestly go with Chris Brown!! ugh. =\

Limbaugh for President -- Madoff for Treasury Secretary

If Rush Limbaugh is ever elected president, his first Cabinet appointment would be Bernard Madoff as Treasury Secretary. Any man who can bilk Americans out of fifty billion dollars is Limbaugh's kind of guy.

Please visit my Blog:
"Conservatives Are America's Real Terrorists"
http://conservativesarecommunistss.blogspot.com/

Limbaugh for President -- Madoff for Treasury Secretary

If Rush Limbaugh is ever elected president, his first Cabinet appointment would be Bernard Madoff as Treasury Secretary. Any man who can bilk Americans out of fifty billion dollars is Limbaugh's kind of guy.

Please visit my Blog:
"Conservatives Are America's Real Terrorists"
http://conservativesarecommunistss.blogspot.com/