My mother told me yesterday that there is a 96 year old greeter at the grocery store she goes to in Maryland. He lost his money to Bernie Made-off. It made me want to cry a little.
@kazillion: I saw a piece about this guy on CNN. He's this kind, sweet guy, who lavishes a big smile on everyone who enters the Whole Foods. If given the chance to execute Madoff, he might be the only investor who would say no.
On May 5, 2006, just three days prior to Dusty Foggo's resignation as the CIA's executive director, CIA Director Porter Goss resigned. On the same day that Goss resigned, President George W. Bush signed an order exempting publicly traded companies from accounting and disclosure procedures, required under the 1934 Securities Exchange Act, for national intelligence reasons. Then-Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte was delegated the authority to exempt companies from compliance with the SEC law.
What Bush did with one stroke of a pen was to exempt companies like Stanford Financial Group, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, American International Group (AIG), and other companies linked to U.S., and, in the case of Madoff, Israeli, covert intelligence activities from normal oversight and regulation by the SEC.
@GuyBitchy: Are you crazy? One look at your post and you know why the SEC ignored Harry's tips about Madoff - the guy was right but he came across as a nutjob.
Clearly you are unfamiliar with Section 13(b)(3)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The provision you are talking about have been around since Carter. While it is curious that Bush delegated his power to the CIA, this has nothing to do with Madoff (who was registered with the SEC).
If he's the only one charged in this, those are some lazy investigators. No way he kept his wife in the dark if she was doing the books. Or the sons for that matter. Honestly, considering how powerful some of the people are that he screwed over, prison is probably the safest place in the world for him.
Former funds manager Harry Markopolos told a House Financial Services subcommittee on Feb. 4 that Madoff had cheated some extremely dangerous figures out of millions of dollars.
Mr. Madoff was running such a large scheme of unimaginable size and complexity, and he had a lot of dirty money," Markopolos testified. "Let me describe dirty money to you. When you're that big and you're that secretive, you're going to attract a lot of organized crime money, which we now know came from the Russian mob and the Latin American drug cartel. When you're zeroing out mobsters, you have a lot of fear. He could not afford to get caught, because once he got caught. . . ."
As his research continued over a 10-year period, Markopolos found that Madoff's operation rivaled the infamous BCCI scandal of the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to his association with Russian oligarchs and Colombian drug lords, Madoff was also linked to high-society stockbroker Robert M. Jaffe (now under investigation by Massachusetts security regulators and linked to New England mobster Gennaro Angiulo), Cayman Island money launderers, and corrupt pro-Israel financiers Sy Syms and Jacob Merkin.
Syms ran billions of dirty money through the Israeli Discount Bank of New York, while researcher Wayne Madsen wrote on January 14: "Madoff is suspected of transferring much of his ill-gotten gain to Israeli banks, including one, Bank Leumi, that Madoff associate J. Ezra Merkin bought from the Israeli government when Ariel Sharon was prime minister and current PM Ehud Olmert was finance minister."
Government regulators refused to act. "The SEC had enough to get Madoff," Markopolos said. "I drew them pictures. I gave them a road map. I told them what questions to ask and who to phone."
While hundreds of people lost their life savings, Wall Street continued its "code of silence." In turn, the banking cartel's elite pressured their subordinates to turn a blind eye.
Markopolos said the SEC didn't listen to his warnings because, "they're too in-bed with the large derivative traders and investment banks. People lost money because they had faith in government."
I'm gonna call it now - 12yrs in federal prison, 5yrs probation and a smack on the ass while someone says "bad boy!" Harsh punishment by white collar standards.
The real victims in this are Madoff's future prison-mates, many of whom will be left destitute after their cigarette fortunes are lost in yet another Madoff Ponzi scheme.
Didn't his sons "turn him in"? Is anyone buying that story? They obviously knew about it all along and it was planned that the old man would take the heat one day.
They should all spend life in prison. The wife too.
If it turns out his sons were constantly riding Segways around the office, stopping only for magic tricks, then -- and only then -- will I believe they were ignorant of Madoff's fraud.@Mann Fairbanks:
I'm usually disappointed that criminal financiers don't get tossed into Attica, but in Madoff's case, I think he'd be more likely to be shanked in a country club prison.
@condiment: If they incarcerate him at the Bushwood Country Club you know that Carl Spackler and the gopher will make him wish that he had gotten shanked!
@HiredGoons: Strangely enough...yes. But I was making a play on "Bye, Bye Birdie." I totally didn't think of those horrible bumpers that used to be around for awhile.
Now everyone just seems to love him. My fave trucker sighting was one with the back covered in bumper stickers, "Take Back Vermont," (Anti-Civil Union) "America Love it or Leave it," "WALMART NOW," and a "Bernie For Senate," sticker.
@Cheap Shot: No--I'll have faith in the system when the Government manages to not only take every penny he has but also every red cent of his wife's (she's claiming that about $60 million is hers and shouldn't be touched), his kids and his brother (all company employees).
Not to burst your bubble but they can't sentence someone to life for a civil crime. I'm betting he'll get 12 years tops. Which gives him time to make up all that money he owes everyone when he gets out.
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On May 5, 2006, just three days prior to Dusty Foggo's resignation as the CIA's executive director, CIA Director Porter Goss resigned. On the same day that Goss resigned, President George W. Bush signed an order exempting publicly traded companies from accounting and disclosure procedures, required under the 1934 Securities Exchange Act, for national intelligence reasons. Then-Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte was delegated the authority to exempt companies from compliance with the SEC law.
What Bush did with one stroke of a pen was to exempt companies like Stanford Financial Group, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, American International Group (AIG), and other companies linked to U.S., and, in the case of Madoff, Israeli, covert intelligence activities from normal oversight and regulation by the SEC.
[onlinejournal.com]
Good times!
03/10/09
Clearly you are unfamiliar with Section 13(b)(3)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The provision you are talking about have been around since Carter. While it is curious that Bush delegated his power to the CIA, this has nothing to do with Madoff (who was registered with the SEC).
03/11/09
Right.
And the SEC ignored volumes of Madoff evidence because one whistle-blower presenting such evidence seemed off to them.
According to you.
And I'm crazy.
Right.
03/10/09
03/10/09
Former funds manager Harry Markopolos told a House Financial Services subcommittee on Feb. 4 that Madoff had cheated some extremely dangerous figures out of millions of dollars.
Mr. Madoff was running such a large scheme of unimaginable size and complexity, and he had a lot of dirty money," Markopolos testified. "Let me describe dirty money to you. When you're that big and you're that secretive, you're going to attract a lot of organized crime money, which we now know came from the Russian mob and the Latin American drug cartel. When you're zeroing out mobsters, you have a lot of fear. He could not afford to get caught, because once he got caught. . . ."
As his research continued over a 10-year period, Markopolos found that Madoff's operation rivaled the infamous BCCI scandal of the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to his association with Russian oligarchs and Colombian drug lords, Madoff was also linked to high-society stockbroker Robert M. Jaffe (now under investigation by Massachusetts security regulators and linked to New England mobster Gennaro Angiulo), Cayman Island money launderers, and corrupt pro-Israel financiers Sy Syms and Jacob Merkin.
Syms ran billions of dirty money through the Israeli Discount Bank of New York, while researcher Wayne Madsen wrote on January 14: "Madoff is suspected of transferring much of his ill-gotten gain to Israeli banks, including one, Bank Leumi, that Madoff associate J. Ezra Merkin bought from the Israeli government when Ariel Sharon was prime minister and current PM Ehud Olmert was finance minister."
Government regulators refused to act. "The SEC had enough to get Madoff," Markopolos said. "I drew them pictures. I gave them a road map. I told them what questions to ask and who to phone."
While hundreds of people lost their life savings, Wall Street continued its "code of silence." In turn, the banking cartel's elite pressured their subordinates to turn a blind eye.
Markopolos said the SEC didn't listen to his warnings because, "they're too in-bed with the large derivative traders and investment banks. People lost money because they had faith in government."
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They should all spend life in prison. The wife too.
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And they're illusions, @resipsaloquacious. Tricks are what a whore does for cocaine.
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Now everyone just seems to love him. My fave trucker sighting was one with the back covered in bumper stickers, "Take Back Vermont," (Anti-Civil Union) "America Love it or Leave it," "WALMART NOW," and a "Bernie For Senate," sticker.
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Not to burst your bubble but they can't sentence someone to life for a civil crime. I'm betting he'll get 12 years tops. Which gives him time to make up all that money he owes everyone when he gets out.
03/10/09