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Why Bernard Madoff Deserves Every Second of His Punishment

by WP on Jul.01, 2009, under General, Uncategorized

from www.britishblogs.co.uk

Bernard Madoff is evil incarnate. He is a disgusting excuse for a human being and deserves to suffer through things that are much more terrible than spending whatever short number of years are left of his life in prison. Bernard Madoff is the man responsible for stealing from thousands of people of every standing, colour and age. He even stole from charities.

Since the early 1990’s, he ran what was purported to be an investment fund, basically a mutual fund of sorts. Instead of actually investing the money, he simply pocketed the money that was “invested” with him. He provided false account statements showing fictitious investment returns and used new investments from clients to pay for requested redemptions from his current clients. He conned people out of approximately $65 billion dollars (Madoff Cursed by Victims Who Scavenge Food, Bottles).

I am going to make a few inferences about his thought processes over the next paragraphs and the one thing that needs to remain front and center, is that this man made a spectacular career as a liar. He carried on the facade of being a money manager for nearly 20 years, and would likely have continued if he wasn’t caught. The fact that his scheme ended when he was caught rather than turning himself in should also be a consideration.

Crocodile Tears

Since being caught, it seems fairly early on that he admitted his guilt and made a big show of how sorry he is. I don’t buy it. This whole show of being sorry seems like crocodile tears to get a lenient sentence and avoid spending his final years in prison.

At one point after being charged, having had his assets frozen by the authorities and being under 24 hour house arrest, he promised the Securities Exchange Commission that he would not dispose of any of his assets. Keeping in mind his career as a liar, and how “sorry” he is, do you think that a man who truly feels bad for what he has done would send jewelry and belongings valued at as much as $1 million to his children and friends? Are these the actions of a man who is trying to make up for his crimes? I think not. Actions speak much louder than words, and when you combine his public apologies with these private actions, this tells me that he is hoping for leniency while still trying to keep as much of his loot as possible.

Where Did He Hide The Loot?

Even though he led a lavish lifestyle, you would think that the authorities would be able to recover a fair amount of the money that he stole. I can’t even begin to imagine how I would spend one billion dollars. Sure, there are some really expensive things out there, but there is a limit to how much things cost. Even if you led an extravagant lifestyle throwing money at everything that moves, how much can you spend? The authorities were only able to recover $832 million from him, out of a total of $65 billion.

I am very skeptical that $832 million represents all of his assets. I do not know the details of international money transfers, or what is involved in seizing assets that are held in foreign countries. With such a small amount of money actually recovered, I would suspect that the money that is stashed elsewhere in the world to be significant, whether it be in plain sight in normal banks, or in Swiss numbered accounts.

During his sentencing, Madoff continued his show of being sorry, and claiming that, “apologizing … is not enough. You should know I feel sorry for everything that I’ve done. [This] is a horrible thing to live with. But there is nothing that I can do that will make your lives better.” Sure, there is no way for Madoff to completely repay the victims of his fraud, but he can start by telling everyone where the rest of the money is hidden, and contributing that money to a “Victims of Bernard Madoff Fund”.

That would be a start, but if he says there’s nothing he can do, we should believe him, right? Its not as though we have any reason to doubt his honesty.