Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Bernard Madoff - $50 Billion Scam

Jump to new
Madeoffed a new board game brought to you by Infinite Returns.

The slogan "Nepotism has never been so fun and guilt free" ;)
 
Now, a problem for China of "Madoffian" proportions.... :)



China owns $653 billion of Treasuries, and indications are that it’s losing its appetite for U.S. debt. Expect Asia’s second-biggest economy to cut the share of dollars in its $1.9 trillion of reserves, and perhaps sharply.

The U.S. is, after all, acting at the expense of its best customer. Just as shareholders abhor companies diluting their stock with new offerings, China’s debt managers can’t be happy with the Treasury’s plans.

Along with its Faustian bargain, one wonders if China risks a Madoffian one, too.
Click to expand...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aHOuXTmCv61Y&refer=home

LOL

This Madeoff jerk will make it into the lexicon of World Lingo for sure.

2008-2009 will become known as "The Madeoff Era".
 
Aussiejeff said:
The dobbing turncoat is not worthy of the Madeoff family name. :)
Click to expand...
Aussiejeff, I think the sons ARE worthy of the Madoff family name.

"Mark Madoff and his brother, Andrew, 42, turned in their father to the U.S. government after he told them last month he was operating a $50 billion Ponzi scheme." (As if they did not know?)

One Last Scam

We got caught, what will we do?

We will pin all the blame on only one person, the oldest guy so that the rest of us can keep OUR SHARE of the stolen monies that we earnt FAIR AND SQUARE.

It's not easy work fleecing institutional investors and highly educated individual investors of billions of dollars. Somebody actually had to WORK to operate the scheme SUCCESSFULLY. Mark Madoff (son) was worth every penny of his salary of $770,000 US back in 2000.

I say, throw the whole clan into jail. It might be the safest place for them.
 
Forbes journo refers to the SEC as "meatheads".

Severing The Financial Social Contract by
Robert Lenzner

http://www.forbes.com/finance/2009/01/11/treasury-goldman-citigroup-pf-ii-in_rl_0111croesus_inl.html

We also have the meatheads at the SEC who had 10 chances to nab Bernie Madoff and never laid a glove on him. Madoff's extraordinary duplicity, undiscovered for decades, has soured the climate for investing despite the sharp rally in stocks since the November lows.

Also from Politico

Brace for more Madoff scandals
January 11, 2009

“History teaches us that if there is a gap in regulatory enforcement, there will not only be one offender that will be devious enough to slip through,” Bachus said. “Unfortunately, when the tide goes out you find out who’s swimming naked, and I suspect that Madoff was not the only one.”

Veteran fraud investigators, too, say they’re almost certain that other financial frauds are waiting to be discovered. “There are probably a lot of shocks out there still to come,” said Michael Varnum, a former chief of the FBI’s public corruption and economic crimes programs who’s now a senior vice president at the private investigative firm Corporate Risk International.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17252.html
 
Let the healing begin



Ok it will begin just dont upset developing countries
but they are hearing you Dave Letterman :D

Why would anyone want Bernie to apologize for his garbage disposal unit, because he doesnt know or care for that matter that the garbage unit exists, AND WHY SHOULD HE? He's garbage right? RIGHT!

And nor do you Mr. Letterman shame on you!
 
GumbyLearner said:
Let the healing begin



Ok it will begin just dont upset developing countries
but they are hearing you Dave Letterman :D

Why would anyone want Bernie to apologize for his garbage disposal unit, because he doesnt know or care for that matter that the garbage unit exists, AND WHY SHOULD HE? He's garbage right? RIGHT!

And nor do you Mr. Letterman shame on you!
Click to expand...


He must have sought asylum in Nigeria. ;)
 
heres a few observations.

1) The internal auditor must have been criminally corrupt.

2) With an operation like this, sophisticated custom software is needed.

Whoever wrote it must almost certainly have been aware that it would be used to provide incorrect data, as the program coding need updating and maintenance, a very specialised job.

3) The SEC investigators would more than likely be just out of college, low wage dummies. If they were top notch they would have been snapped up by Wall st for twice their salaries. Their incompetence is now proven

4) I have no doubt whatsoever that the sons and the old man would have cooked up the "dob in" story, to try and deflect the blame.
The sons would have known about problems long before it blew up.

5) I predict the old man will have "health problems"...this type of family scam is age old
 
1) The internal auditor must have been criminally corrupt.

2) With an operation like this, sophisticated custom software is needed.

Whoever wrote it must almost certainly have been aware that it would be used to provide incorrect data, as the program coding need updating and maintenance, a very specialised job.

3) The SEC investigators would more than likely be just out of college, low wage dummies. If they were top notch they would have been snapped up by Wall st for twice their salaries. Their incompetence is now proven

4) I have no doubt whatsoever that the sons and the old man would have cooked up the "dob in" story, to try and deflect the blame.
The sons would have known about problems long before it blew up.
Click to expand...

All no doubt true.

Question. In the boom time, money led markets of of the last 15 years, which person or organisation would have the courage to put up their hand and say one of the most respected and consistently profitable funds was a sham? And would they be believed?

A few years ago I was introduced to the PIPS scam. HYIP earn 2% a day projection. Obviously and clearly a scam but so well done it sucked in many people including friends.

I did some basic research on PIPS, put a package together and sent it to ASIC imploring them to take action ASAP precisely because its cleverness would mean a longer and ultimately more disastrous run.

I was ignored. Many months later when PIPS finally fell over ASIC also jumped on board. But again as always, at the end of the game. Any similarities here?
 
One of the most intriguing aspects will be to find out how long this bad business has been going on?

Has it been a Ponzi scheme from the start?

Were legitimate investments being made?

What was the cause of the blowout?

Human ingenuity will always devise innovations of the good ole Confidence trick.

Almost like the Nigerians, just ask for the money!
 
Here is the submission by Markopolous (anonymous at the time)
from 2005 about the activities of Mr.Madeoffs brokerage. Page 14 contains his conclusions.

Nov 7, 2005
http://online.wsj.com/documents/Mado...s_20081217.pdf
Click to expand...

Talk about smoking gun ? How about a 21 inch cannon. :eek:

That attachment has to be one of the most comprehensive and understandable analysis of a financial fraud I have ever seen. It demands immediate action and yet was ignored. I think the people who did not follow up on the report are also guilty of criminal offences.

I suggest that all forum members should take the opportunity to read the report and consider the questions they ask of any investment opportunity.
 
basilio said:
Talk about smoking gun ? How about a 21 inch cannon. :eek:

That attachment has to be one of the most comprehensive and understandable analysis of a financial fraud I have ever seen. It demands immediate action and yet was ignored. I think the people who did not follow up on the report are also guilty of criminal offences.

I suggest that all forum members should take the opportunity to read the report and consider the questions they ask of any investment opportunity.
Click to expand...



After reading that report, I have no doubt that the responsible SEC officials involved in this case should be immediately dismissed for gross incompetence, and possibly prosecuted for negligence.

You would have to wonder if the SEC might get sued, if their inaction was so negligent, it lead to increased losses.

This story has gone strangely quiet in the media, considering the ripple effects of imploding hedge funds liquidating their positions, would/will surely have a negative effect on various markets
 

Similar threads

Garpal Gumnut
PwC
2
Replies
34
Views
4K
Dona Ferentes
Dona Ferentes
basilio
Banks supporting criminals
Replies
8
Views
767
moXJO
M
R
21 Lessons in Investing
Replies
6
Views
3K
divs4ever
divs4ever
DB008
Crypto USDT - US Tether
Replies
2
Views
4K
Dona Ferentes
Dona Ferentes
K
Bank Makes a Mockery of ASIC Enforceable Undertaking
Replies
1
Views
3K
mjim
M
Top