Bernard Madoff's 50 Billion Dollar Scam

#1
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WA_Vol

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#1
The man who conned the world - Business News, Business - The Independent

Investors around the world are counting the spiralling cost of the biggest fraud in history, a $50bn scam that has ensnared billionaire businessmen and tiny charities alike and whose tentacles have stretched further and deeper than anyone imagined.

Nicola Horlick, the British fund manager known as Superwoman for juggling her high-flying City career with bringing up five children, turned her fire on US regulators. Her Bramdean Alternatives investment fund had put 9 per cent – about £10m – with Mr Madoff. She told BBC Radio: "This is the biggest financial scandal, probably in the history of the markets."
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#5
#5
i don't feel sorry for these idiots putting their entire net worth in a friggin hedge fund. they interviewed one on cnbc and she said "they told us they were doing convertable arbitrage which as you know is risk free." ummm convertable arbitrage is risk free? people this stupid shouldn't be investing in hedge funds.
 
#6
#6
BigPapaVol said:
Screw her. Due diligence is her responsibility, especially investing in hedge funds.
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yup. a bunch of these fund of funds managers have come to see me (many invested in madoff's fund) and they always claim they monitor the positions which i always knew was BS. if you were smart enough to know which trades were risky and which weren't, you would be running your own hedge fund, not investing other peoples money in other hedge funds. also they don't want to look stupid by questioning a manger like madoff who had such a good reputation.
 
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#7
#7
This type of crime is way too common now. He hasn't spend 50 billion dollars, he's hidden it in case he gets caught. They should really go after this money, and make sure he never gets out. In other words, make another example out of him.
 
#8
#8
I know of one of the investors caught in this scam......over the years, he held a seat on the NYSE and built an investment firm that he sold to Merrill Lynch. The guy was a player. He lost enough that his condo in Boca and his condo overlooking Central Park are both up for sale. Evidently, he feels he is in dire straits with no cash to meet day to day expenses.

I think greed was the motivator. I can just hear them saying, "Bernie's got an angle, he's gonna make us rich!". It also appeared to have a herd dynamic that continued to bring new victims in the scheme because everyone knew a sharp operator that was involved and figured that "Oh, well if HE is in on it, it has to be good." The same attitude mitigated due diligence on the part of the individual investor.

I am amazed at the failings of the SEC and various accounting firms. Evidently, this guy had no transparency in his operation but everyone gave him a hall pass.

The thing that just freaks me out is that he scammed a multitude of very astute individuals out of a very high percentage of their personal fortunes. They made no attempt to diversify their holdings.
 
#9
#9
Plano Vol said:
I know of one of the investors caught in this scam......over the years, he held a seat on the NYSE and built an investment firm that he sold to Merrill Lynch. The guy was a player. He lost enough that his condo in Boca and his condo overlooking Central Park are both up for sale. Evidently, he feels he is in dire straits with no cash to meet day to day expenses.

I think greed was the motivator. I can just hear them saying, "Bernie's got an angle, he's gonna make us rich!". It also appeared to have a herd dynamic that continued to bring new victims in the scheme because everyone knew a sharp operator that was involved and figured that "Oh, well if HE is in on it, it has to be good." The same attitude mitigated due diligence on the part of the individual investor.

I am amazed at the failings of the SEC and various accounting firms. Evidently, this guy had no transparency in his operation but everyone gave him a hall pass.

The thing that just freaks me out is that he scammed a multitude of very astute individuals out of a very high percentage of their personal fortunes. They made no attempt to diversify their holdings.
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Hedge funds exist for accredited investors because they don't have to provide the same clarity as do the more regulated investment funds.

He got a hall pass from a bunch of accredited investors who could have done the homework.
 
#10
#10
oklavol said:
This type of crime is way too common now. He hasn't spend 50 billion dollars, he's hidden it in case he gets caught. They should really go after this money, and make sure he never gets out. In other words, make another example out of him.
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have you not read the story. He used subsequent investment capital to pay returns to earlier investors. He has likely salted away some, but sounds like the vast majority had to go toward paying off investors and giving them their returns.
 
#13
#13
I enjoy evidence of karmic activity. If I can extrapolate from the ones I know, a high percentage of the scammees represent a fair amount of people who believe they are the sharpest tools in the shed. Maybe they are, but they are not bulletproof.
 
#14
#14
BigPapaVol said:
have you not read the story. He used subsequent investment capital to pay returns to earlier investors. He has likely salted away some, but sounds like the vast majority had to go toward paying off investors and giving them their returns.
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He's put money in off-shore accounts, that's almost guaranteed.
 
#15
#15
now if they could just focus on the Ponzi scheme known as social security
 
#20
#20
did you hear about all the checks that were found in his desk drawer?
 
#21
#21
cd12 said:
did you hear about all the checks that were found in his desk drawer?
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Yea... $175 Million in checks to friends a family as Hannakkah gifts. I could sit here for hours and post stories of what this guy did and who he ripped off. A Lot of people are totally wipped out
 
#25
#25
Madoff is probably sitting in a penthouse apartment right now scheming on how he can flee the country and not get caught. Letting a guy like this out on bail isn't right.
 
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