Is that all, Bernard madoff goes to jail, then what?
I am thinking about the fraud that Bernard Madoff ran for so many years, robbing investors of a staggering $65 billion on the process. I look at the figure and my head reels. The estimate for the 2006 Gross National Income for my country, Malawi, is $2.1 billion.
The ammmount that Madoff syphoned is equivalent to the income of my country for 20 years, so you could understand how I am still battling to get to grips with this fraud. It beats me how this ponzi scheme went on for so long, when so much money was lost, and nothing was detected. It’s the ecomic downturn that did Madoff in when investors wanted to withdrwa ammounts that, Madoff could not pay. Otherwise the fraud who have run on for much longer!
Interestingly, when lives were ruined by Madoff, when families were driven to bankruptcy and some victims of his fraud committed suicide, the ‘plight; of the wife is what captured the imagination of the media. Contraty to popular belief, Madoff’s clients to his ponzi scheme were not exclusively wealthy people.
One of his victims was William Foxton, a 65-year-old retired British army major, who shot himself in a Southampton park in February after discovering Madoff had cost him his life savings. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8120411.stm
Madoff’s wife, Ruth, said in a statement released today that she felt "betrayed and confused”.
“The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years," she said. Well, its hard to believe that, I must say. And the wife seems more concerned with continuing living the high life, at the multi-million penthouse in Manhattan and her millions safely in the bank.
I ask, where is the justice for the victims. Its almost as if the media has agreed collectively to largely portray victims as supper rich individuals and corporations recruited on lush golf courses. In that way, the implication is that the people who lost money to the fraud probably had too much of the money anyway and therefore not deserving of too much public sympathy. Nothing could be further from the truth. There were thousands of School teachers, farmers, mechanics and many others who lost their life savings. The poor man who comitted suicide is only one of many such sad stories, rarely told.
I joke about this with my friends as we discuss the various justice systems of the world. I often joke with them that traditional African system is the best there is. If you steal my chicken and you are caught and taken to the chief and your guilt is proven, you are fined two chickens. One is given back to me, the other goes to the chief!
Today in court, Madoff was called "a monster who should be caged” by his victims. The judge agreed to that, called his crime “extraordinarily evil" and sentenced him to a maximum 150 years in a federal prison.
Dominic Ambrosino, a victim of the fraud, called it an "indescribably heinous crime" and urged a long prison sentence so he "will know he is imprisoned in much the same way he imprisoned us and others." He added: "In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence." http://www.miamiherald.com/101/story/1118868.html
Meanwhile, Madoff’s wife goes home to the multi-million penthouse. His sons and brothers with whom he ran his companies were not charged so they will continue with their pretty lives. The burned investors in his scheme are left holding the baby.
I might be wrong about this but, is there a respectability attached to a crime called “white collar crime”?
I am thinking about the fraud that Bernard Madoff ran for so many years, robbing investors of a staggering $65 billion on the process. I look at the figure and my head reels. The estimate for the 2006 Gross National Income for my country, Malawi, is $2.1 billion.
The ammmount that Madoff syphoned is equivalent to the income of my country for 20 years, so you could understand how I am still battling to get to grips with this fraud. It beats me how this ponzi scheme went on for so long, when so much money was lost, and nothing was detected. It’s the ecomic downturn that did Madoff in when investors wanted to withdrwa ammounts that, Madoff could not pay. Otherwise the fraud who have run on for much longer!
Interestingly, when lives were ruined by Madoff, when families were driven to bankruptcy and some victims of his fraud committed suicide, the ‘plight; of the wife is what captured the imagination of the media. Contraty to popular belief, Madoff’s clients to his ponzi scheme were not exclusively wealthy people.
One of his victims was William Foxton, a 65-year-old retired British army major, who shot himself in a Southampton park in February after discovering Madoff had cost him his life savings. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8120411.stm
Madoff’s wife, Ruth, said in a statement released today that she felt "betrayed and confused”.
“The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years," she said. Well, its hard to believe that, I must say. And the wife seems more concerned with continuing living the high life, at the multi-million penthouse in Manhattan and her millions safely in the bank.
I ask, where is the justice for the victims. Its almost as if the media has agreed collectively to largely portray victims as supper rich individuals and corporations recruited on lush golf courses. In that way, the implication is that the people who lost money to the fraud probably had too much of the money anyway and therefore not deserving of too much public sympathy. Nothing could be further from the truth. There were thousands of School teachers, farmers, mechanics and many others who lost their life savings. The poor man who comitted suicide is only one of many such sad stories, rarely told.
I joke about this with my friends as we discuss the various justice systems of the world. I often joke with them that traditional African system is the best there is. If you steal my chicken and you are caught and taken to the chief and your guilt is proven, you are fined two chickens. One is given back to me, the other goes to the chief!
Today in court, Madoff was called "a monster who should be caged” by his victims. The judge agreed to that, called his crime “extraordinarily evil" and sentenced him to a maximum 150 years in a federal prison.
Dominic Ambrosino, a victim of the fraud, called it an "indescribably heinous crime" and urged a long prison sentence so he "will know he is imprisoned in much the same way he imprisoned us and others." He added: "In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence." http://www.miamiherald.com/101/story/1118868.html
Meanwhile, Madoff’s wife goes home to the multi-million penthouse. His sons and brothers with whom he ran his companies were not charged so they will continue with their pretty lives. The burned investors in his scheme are left holding the baby.
I might be wrong about this but, is there a respectability attached to a crime called “white collar crime”?
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