Culture
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2007
- Messages
- 491
Thinking about this Madoff hedge fund debacle, I was wonder what prevents outright theft of hedge fund assets?
If oversight is as lax as indicated, what would prevent me from investing $20B in Beaver cheese futures with my buddy Bill in Russian, "losing" everything, closing the hedge fund and retiring to Grand Cayman or similar with my share of the Beaver cheese loot?
Given the general atmosphere of greed on Wall street, i would be shocked if this does not occur on a regular basis, perhaps on a much smaller scale. Perhaps oversight is more strict that I am lead to believe? Does anyone here actually know enough about how these things work to know if this is an issue?
This reminds me of a discussion I have with an insurance adjuster after a fire. He mentioned that stupidity is insurable and not illegal, so the best way to commit arson is to spill axle grease on the garage floor, mop it up with a bucket of gasoline, and admit that is what happened when the building burns down.
Even if the SEC though I committed fraud when investing in Beaver cheese futures, they could never prove it, I would just claim a momentary lapse in judgment. Am I wrong?
Perhaps Madoff stole all the money, then had his sons turn him in to give them cover. He is so old he will probably never go to jail, or if he does it will be for a few months. If this did happen, could you ever be caught?
Am I paranoid?
If oversight is as lax as indicated, what would prevent me from investing $20B in Beaver cheese futures with my buddy Bill in Russian, "losing" everything, closing the hedge fund and retiring to Grand Cayman or similar with my share of the Beaver cheese loot?
Given the general atmosphere of greed on Wall street, i would be shocked if this does not occur on a regular basis, perhaps on a much smaller scale. Perhaps oversight is more strict that I am lead to believe? Does anyone here actually know enough about how these things work to know if this is an issue?
This reminds me of a discussion I have with an insurance adjuster after a fire. He mentioned that stupidity is insurable and not illegal, so the best way to commit arson is to spill axle grease on the garage floor, mop it up with a bucket of gasoline, and admit that is what happened when the building burns down.
Even if the SEC though I committed fraud when investing in Beaver cheese futures, they could never prove it, I would just claim a momentary lapse in judgment. Am I wrong?
Perhaps Madoff stole all the money, then had his sons turn him in to give them cover. He is so old he will probably never go to jail, or if he does it will be for a few months. If this did happen, could you ever be caught?
Am I paranoid?