No Justice!! No Confidence!!
By Larry Doyle on March 10, 2009 at 1:30 PM in American Consumers, Bernie Madoff, Current Affairs, Economy, Sense on Cents (Larry Doyle blog), Wall Street
All indications point to a plea deal this week with Bernie Madoff. In my opinion, Bernie Madoff seems to have been treated with kid gloves to this point. House arrest for a purported crime of this magnitude defies logic. One can only assume the government
Bernie Madoff
utilized this approach, even after Bernie shipped jewels and assets overseas, as they were trying to extract as much information as possible. This week’s news will give the public the first hint as to what kind of information the government has extracted.
My father was an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, MA and has often made the point that white collar crime never received the degree of justice it deserved. The crime that Bernie and team propagated not only directly impacted his investors but also massively impacted the public at large. How is that? Bernie’s Ponzi scheme, perpetrated over such an extended period of time, has caused a crisis of confidence in our markets, our regulatory system, and ultimately our country.
It defies logic that this Ponzi scheme was not executed without enormous cooperation and involvement by a number of individuals both inside and outside the Madoff organization. There is no doubt in my mind that many of those individuals have information, that if revealed, can and will be extremely embarrassing for some high profile people within our regulatory bodies and our government.
If Bernie’s plea deal is perceived as far too generous and closer to the end of the process than the beginning, I for one will not be silent nor should the public at large.
In assessing Bernie Madoff’s actions, I see implicitly thousands of instances of assault, breaking and entering, grand larceny, rape, and premeditated murder (e.g Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet’s suicide). Call me harsh if you’d like, but that is how I see it.
If the government does not exact justice for this magnitude of criminal behavior with the pressure ratcheting increasingly higher on his den of thieves, then this country will have missed an opportunity to promote the virtues and principles upon which it was built.
No Justice, No Confidence!!
LD
**Cross-posted from my blog, Sense on Cents. Come by and visit!
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For certain white collar crimes, the punishment should be capital. Now that would get ‘em singing about the other birds.
Madoff was probably next in line for Sec Treas.
You bet’cha
I watched a documentary some time ago about white collar crime.
The FBI agent interviewed, because this type of crime was his specialty, said that white collar crime actually costs taxpayers more than violent crime.
The reporter was shocked and so was I. The agent cited statics to prove his point. The agent pointed out specific cases and the cost.
People have died as a result of the type of schemes Madoff perpetrated. To me, that is also murder.
If the penalties were stiffer I suspect many of these folks wouldn’t dare do these horrible things.
“Some will rob you with a six gun.
Others do it with a fountain pen.”
Woody Guthrie
I was just trying to remember that Woody Guthrie quote. Didn’t he also say something like he never met a blue collar hold-up man who would steal your house? (unlike a white collar criminal)
LD, isn’t this what happened this past election cycle? And no one willing to prosecute while the perp sits in the WH enjoying the perks of the job. Madoff is disgusting so is That One.
Amen Doc99.
Prosecuters should tell Maddoff he has two choices. Spill the beans about every single person involved, give up every single asset, cash and property and he will get a nice little padded cell. If he doesn’t, then he gets to go the meanest, most violent prison in the country.
I agree, these people do this shit because NOTHING SUBSTANTIAL IS DONE TO THEM. We get more threats over a late payment or a small mistake on our tax returns.
I agree 100%.
For a crime of this magnitude, he should get far, far more than a slap on the wrist and a trip to Camp Cupcake. He is disgusting.
Hey- let’s let his victims set the punishment. How about making the miscreant live in poverty- in a tent perhaps, like many Americans are at this moment? I agree that the penalty should be HUGE for this creep.
And he should have to surrender ALL his assets — foreign and domestic, over this. Everything should be seized and distributed, pro rata, to those he cheated. That’s just for starters.
Oh wait. And one better. Lets compare THIS crime and their gentle handling of Madoff….compared to Martha Stewart. Uh, yeah, RIGHT!
Sexism and Corporate protection at it’s finest.
This totally infuriates me. We were robbed a few years ago. A guy broke into our garage at night and took a bunch of stuff. He had an IQ of a pebble, because he tried to locally sell highly identifiable objects and was identified and caught. However, he got 3 months in the local jail with a 4 year prison term should he repeat his felony.
And this Bernie Madoff is in his penthouse and may make a deal? What is my America coming to?
I should have added that our loss was only about $400 and we got half of our stuff back.
i don’t think we are in our AMERICA any more..
No. We blinked and our America vanished!
Maddof ponzi scheme pales in comparaison to the ARSP freeze/scandal. 386 billions worth of investments frozen for months and about 175 billions of them still frozen and probably lost for ever. All that for the sake of making sure investment banks APPEAR solvent.
I for one got caught in it, and will NEVER EVER put a dime in the stock market or in any financial instruments of any kind.
(actually real estate is really starting to look like a bargain. Another 4-6 months and just before we see inflation kicking in will be the very best time to get in. Not to expect capital gains but reasonable returns and an investment which keeps up with inflation)
That is where the real cost of those crimes lies. THE LOSS OF CONFIDENCE not in the market, but IN THE SYSTEM.
The budget Obama is preparing to sign has 9,000 earmarks, but not enough money to fund the SEC at its previous level.
That says it all about who Obama’s administration really cares for.
Does the phrase “TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE” register with any of these people? No one should lose money to a swindler but there is an air of arrogance that masked the smell of ignorance for those who invested with MADOFF. Good lord didn’t his last name sound any alarms. They should have their attorneys CANWE CHEATEM and HOWE sue MADEOFF.
Anyway to verify this Larry? Just reading it has angered me. Americans are loosing their jobs left and right, but we’re going to give 300,000 jobs to those who are in this country illegally? I am not against immigration. I just want it done legally the same way my forefathers had to do it. Other than my Native American forefathers. But, it does anger me that we do something like this with so many American’s now out of work. 700 people applying for a janitor job? I don’t think people are buying into the jobs American’s won’t do. These are all construction jobs.
http://tinyurl.com/bs56ma
Diana,
This is fairly shockiing isn’t it!! I actually raised the question of illegal immigration the other day in the post, So Many Questions.
I am 1000% in support of immigration done legally. Illegal immigration, in my opinion, is a disservice to all involved. I believe the Democrats support ongoing illegal immigration because it can help their base.
It’s shameful.
Reward bad behavior and punish god behavior for only so long before people just give up. Reminds me of the treatment of POW’s… making them dig a hole and fill it up only to dig it again the next day… to break the spirit. Except of course… in this case, we are throwing people in a hole… watching them dig their way out… only to throw them back in and dump dirt on them all over again. The socialist left means to break the spirit of good hard working Americans. If it doesn’t work… there will be a price to be paid.
Every time I need to renew a license or do just about anything connected with the government, I have to show proof in the form of a birth certificate with a raised seal, a driver’s license, proof of my residence in the form of utility bills or some other government-addressed mail, and sometimes my old Geneva Convention Card (Department Of-Defense-issued).
My family has been in this country since the early 1700s and I have to document MY life practically in its entirety. I think I’ll start using my Spanish or fractured german and play dumb from now on. I might cut about a half-hour on my dealings with bureaucrats and cut the paperwork by 3/4.
Breaking News
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 — 3:54 PM ET
—–
Madoff Will Plead Guilty to Charges Carrying Life Sentence
Lawyers for the disgraced financier Bernard L. Madoff told a federal judge on Tuesday that he is expected to plead guilty later this week to charges that will result in a life sentence.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na
Thanks for this color. He certainly deserves life + 1 day.
The questions I have are:
1. what prison…better not be any country clubs..
2. who’s next??
let’s see more indictments and some clarity on the whole fraud.
I like it. Must be a math major.
Tricia – read the NYT article more carefully. Headline says he will plead guilty to charges that COULD not WILL result in life in prison! Do you think he hasn’t already got a plea bargain?
If you are going to announce something – get it right!! If I sound like Old Grumpy Guy – that’s because I am old Grumpy Gal, old enough to know that the Bernie Madoffs of this world will roll over on the “number of individuals” mentioned in LD’s article.
I am still waiting for news on Tony Rezko!
Should that plea bargain result in the arrest and conviction of others involved in his money laundering, among other things, then I’m OK by it. We need to get ALL these crooks.
MOmule–Don’t blame me. It was a cut-and-paste from the NY Times–as is clearly noted (so you have to read more carefully also!) : )
My significant other disagrees. He is furious because Bush and his cronies did far more damage in lives and money and nothing will happen to them. To him Madoff is small change.
He also believes that Obama was selected to be in the WH to take the blame for the Bush debacle.
BTW he doesn’t like Hillary either for entering what he terms “the snake pit”.
Those are his views.
Candymarl,
Please read this piece and share with your significant other.
http://www.senseoncents.com/2009/03/how-wall-street-bought-washington/
Thanks Larry but he won’t read it. I read it. Sigh.
I rather think That One was selected to finish the job of laying to waste our system of government, including its solvency, governmental checks and balances, and the Consitutional Rights of individuals. Reason #5495 that I am was a staunch supporter of HRC.
That should read: …that I am (was)….
His punishment should include the making of very small rocks out of very large ones. Perhaps 50 billion, or so, of them. You say he couldn’t possibly do it in a lifetime? Well, then, lets send him some help in the form of anyone who was in on this with him. Along with making these tiny little rocks, they will have to number the bastards, too, and keep them in rank-and-file order.
white collar criminals don’t get punished because they’re “one of the gang;” half the people who run this country are white collar criminals. you think they’re going to punish somebody else when they’re guilty themselves? not likely; that’s a slippery slope they don’t want to get on.
and the sad thing is a lot of them are in Washington.
You’re spot on–but IF the public puts enough pressure on the government, our elected officials might just find a way to set a few examples.
I think we need to work to get a bunch of these people out of office. Pelosi for sure. I wish I could move to her district to vote her out. San Francisco is to cold for me, and to hilly. Guess I’m just spoiled with living on flat land.
LOL, SoCalDem.
If you want *really* flat land, try the panhandle of Texas. If you look out far enough, you can see the back of your own head.
If a guy is at the root of the crime and gets a plea deal, there must be a lot he is trading.
Your prognostication skills are simply off the charts.
“Bernard Madoff, after being charged with 11 counts for allegedly running Wall Street’s biggest Ponzi scheme, now faces up to 150 years in prison when he pleads guilty tomorrow, officials said yesterday.”
He’s going to die in prison. That’s almost close to “gets off with a plea deal.” Make sure you keep us informed of what you think signs are pointing to in the future.