First of Many?

[mickeyd]

I dare say that this will not be the last of this kind of article that is the result of Madoff's dealings. Is it too early to suggest that we stop using the phrase "Ponzi Scheme" and replace it with "Madoff Scheme" in our daily lexicon?

Quote:

The founder of an investment fund that lost $1.4 billion with Bernard Madoff was discovered dead Tuesday after committing suicide at his Madison Avenue office, marking a grim turn in a scandal that has left investors around the world in financial ruin.

Madoff investor found dead of suicide: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

[hopingtomakeit]

i know nothing of the person involved. i'm assuming he was an honorable man, with investments. who knows why he did what he did. you'd have to ask him. and it's late to do that now.

in any case, financial criminals hurt people. we may be bound to see more of this.

and criminals, imo, ought to be subject to the law.

one can in our country, be thrown in jail for say, a minor drug charge, which may hurt the person, and his/her immediate acquaintances. and, to be fair, of course others. in my state, subject to the three strikes law, one may be imprisoned for many years for stealing a pizza, or breaking into a church to sleep. both of these i've read on the news in past years.

and yet, someone who is a financial criminal, and destroys many, many lives, may not suffer the same consequences.


the consequences for the victims of financial criminals may include suicide, family and financial ruin, and the impoverishment of many investors, and their children, over many years. not to mention, in aggregate, our country.

it's time we put a stop to this.

i must apologize for my forthrightness, as i'm an infrequent poster to this board, but i had to say something.

[crazy connie]

There is no way that Bernie Madoff generated thousands of monthly statements by himself. That is a physical impossiblity.

He sits in his 9 Million Dollar penthouse now meeting with attorneys while out on bail. Just because he can do no more harm and having surrendered his passport is not a flight risk (per Bloomberg interviews with government officials). Since he has acknowledged guilt, why should he be allowed bond? My guess is he will commit suicide before a guilty verdict to preserve his estate for his wife and children and that will become judgement proof.

I am not a proponent of upper class investors but they do not deserve to be financially raped by suave con men anymore than a low life hustler has the right to rip off a poor person.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazy connie My guess is he will commit suicide before a guilty verdict to preserve his estate for his wife and children and that will become judgement proof.

That won't necessarily help. To some degree it may depend on state law. I know there were/are still people going after Ken Lay's estate after his death following his conviction (since vacated) on the Enron debacle.

[bubba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazy connie I am not a proponent of upper class investors but they do not deserve to be financially raped by suave con men anymore than a low life hustler has the right to rip off a poor person.

Well said, crazy connie, except that while I struggle to find 2 nickels to invest, I am all for upper/middle/lower class investors. His a$$ should be in jail with all the rest of the common criminals. It's chaps me to no end that he is resting comfortably in his penthouse after what he's done. Well, I said resting comfortably; I hope he hasn't slept a wink since his deeds became common knowledge. In my heart of hearts, I truly believe that the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow yet exceeding fine, and either he or some of his loved ones (or both) will pay a steep price for his actions. Time will tell.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubba Well said, crazy connie, except that while I struggle to find 2 nickels to invest, I am all for upper/middle/lower class investors.

Same here. I wish all decent people well who make their money legally and ethically -- no matter how poor *or* how rich.

[hopingtomakeit]

the mention of ken lay's name does not surprise me.

i remember when this hit california.

if i'd had to pay my electric bill, at that point in history, it'd have been the equivalent of my rent, for a month's worth of electricity.

that was what i was told, at least. i pay about 800 a month for my one bedroom, 1920's duplex. grace 'a dieu (or landlord), my rent has not been raised since i took the place in 1992. i was told that my unsubsidized electric bill would have been 800 per month, at the height of the enron scandal.

i didn't have to pay it... but my understanding is, it was effectually added to my taxes, in the long term, as a CALI resident.

so, yes... my subtext was that our country is in effect acting like enron. at least as i in my despair understand it.

i hope i am in some way mistaken.

my best to all my country-persons, on christmas eve...

i hate that my past couple posts have been in the soapbox area, just 'cause i don't want to be negative. that's a downer, and nobody wants it. but perhaps there's a purpose to this.

at the same time, i feel like i should offer my thoughts, and those that are smarter than i am, may be able to offer a remediation.

very best on christmas eve. and support to all those of good will...from all countries, and all religions.

sincerely...

[chinaco]

Madoff is typical of the arrogance, greed, and opportunism of our financial service industry. There are many that are not criminals... but when they see the avarice behavior of a few... it somehow becomes alright to pursue the same course of action. Somehow it becomes acceptable.

If we look at the mortgage/investment industry over the last 10 years, we see in institutionalize mechanism that was rotten to the core and everyone on board with bilking investors... hoping someone else would be left holding the bag.

We can now see who was left holding the bag.... us!