[joinedafterattack]

Bernard L. Madoff, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and a fixture of the Wall Street trading world for decades, was arrested Thursday morning by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and charged with criminal securities fraud by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

Press Release of Bernard Madoff's ArrestThe criminal complaint filed against Mr. Madoff alleges that he told senior employees Wednesday that his business was "a giant Ponzi scheme," according to a person familiar with the matter. The alleged scheme involved tens of billions of dollars, but the extent of investor losses wasn't immediately clear.

The disclosure came after Mr. Madoff tried to distribute early bonuses to employees of his firm, prompting questions by senior employees, a person familiar with the situation said.

Mr. Madoff, 70 years old, allegedly told employees he had a couple of hundred million dollars left and wanted to distribute it before turning himself in to authorities, this person said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to file parallel civil charges against Mr. Madoff.

The alleged scheme apparently involved an asset-management unit of Madoff Securities. The New York firm is primarily known for its business of market-making in stocks. The asset-management group at Madoff oversaw money for high net-worth individuals, hedge funds and other institutions, according to another person familiar with the matter.

[April Lexington]

WHAT DO YOU BET THIS DUDE IS A DEMOCRAT!!!

[NativeNewYorker]

Bear, Lehman, countless nameless hedge funds, and now Madoff. Helluva year this has been.

[April Lexington]

MADOFF! You should have just asked for a bailout like all of the other Wall Street crooks. Obama is there for you, buddy!

Oh, wait... your’e not from Chicago... never mind...

[LikeLight]

Un-Enlightened Self-Interest

[Enchante]

WOW, and his website says he is so ethical and personally involved in overseeing the company:

http://www.madoff.com/dis/display.asp?id=203&mode=1&home=1&madf=

The Owner’s Name is on the Door

In an era of faceless organizations owned by other equally faceless organizations, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC harks back to an earlier era in the financial world: The owner’s name is on the door. Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining the unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm’s hallmark.

Bernard L. Madoff founded the investment firm that bears his name in 1960, soon after leaving law school. His brother, Peter B. Madoff, graduated from law school and joined the firm in 1970. While building the firm into a significant force in the securities industry, they have both been deeply involved in leading the dramatic transformation that has been underway in US securities trading.

[bamahead]

PING

[ryan71]

Securities?

Award for irony of the month?

[Bean Counter]

So this old fart was just handing out the bonus money early before he turned himself in...and one of the early bonuses he awarded was really early, and made to the Dhimmies...

Who gets to return the money, and where do they send the check??

You just can’t purchase political capital like this at any price...

[TheWasteLand]

The criminal complaint filed against Mr. Madoff alleges that he told senior employees Wednesday that his business was "a giant Ponzi scheme,"

This is incredible. Is he describing his business, or Wall Street in general?

[AmericaUnited]

In this day of trillion dollar bailouts, isn't 50 billion a misdemeanor?

[tomnbeverly]

Typical, Bad news for Dems translates to good news for AMERICA.

[Frantzie]

Is everyone either brain dead or on the take at the SEC?

I used to think Chris Cox was a decent So Cal conservative Congressman but he has sucked at the SEC. People have begged him to reinstitute the uptick rule on shorting but he and Bush have been in a fog.

The hedge funds own Congress.

$50 billion! How could the SEC and FINRA (formerly called the NASD) miss $50 billion? This guy has been in business for decades? It makes no sense. But he is a Dem so he is probably crooked as hell. Incredible.

Well our new President may be an illegal alien so what the hell.

[mkjessup]

The criminal complaint filed against Mr. Madoff alleges that he told senior employees Wednesday that his business was "a giant Ponzi scheme,"

I just wish this guy would get the credit he rightly deserves:

[staytrue]

The asset-management group at Madoff oversaw money for high net-worth individuals, hedge funds and other institutions, according to another person familiar with the matter.

I think repeating the classic stock broker jokes apply here.

Stockbroker: "I've made most of my clients small fortunes, of course when they started out, they had large fortunes, but that is beside the point."

[kcvl]

Bernard L. Madoff

He founded his New York firm in 1960. He is a former chairman of the board of directors of the Nasdaq Stock Market and has also been on the board of governors of the NASD.

Madoff's Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities is a wholesale market maker that trades with other dealers.

[kcvl]

Bernard L. Madoff Investments with offices in New York and London have unique interiors.

[kcvl]

Lobbyists working for Bernard L Madoff Investment

Securities: Lobbying Firm Hired Amount Subsidiary (Lobbied For) Lobbyist

Dow Lohnes Government Strategies $10,000 -

Lent, Norman F III
Leon, Peter A
Scrivner, Michael S

Lent, Scrivner & Roth $10,000 -

Lent, Norman F III
Leon, Pete
Molan, Richard
Molen, Richard
Roth, Alan J
Scrivner, Michael S

http://tinyurl.com/6o5do7

[kcvl]

According to two senior employees of the Firm (the Senior Employees), Madoff conducts certain investment advisory business for clients that is separate from the firm’s proprietary trading and market making activities. According to the Senior Employees, Madoff ran his investment adviser business from a separate floor in the New York City offices of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. According to a Senior Employee, Madoff kept the financial statements for the firm under lock and key, and Madoff was “cryptic” about the firm’s investment advisory business.

According to a document filed by Madoff with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan.7, 2008, Madoff’s investment advisory business served between 11 and 25 clients and had a total of approximately $17.1 billion in assets under management.

On Dec. 10, 2008, Madoff informed the Senior Employees, in substance, that his investment advisory business was a fraud. Madoff stated that he was “finished,” that he had “absolutely nothing,” that “it’s all just one big lie,” and that it was “basically, a giant Ponzi scheme. Madoff stated that the business was insolvent, and that it had been for years. Madoff also stated that he estimated the losses from this fraud to be at least approximately $50 billion. Madoff further informed the Senior Employees that, in approximately one week, he planned to surrender to authorities, but before he did that, he had approximately $200-300 million left, and he planned to use that money to make payments to certain selected employees, family and friends. Madoff, 70, currently resides in New York City.

http://tinyurl.com/5h3985

[Euker]

I’ve had too much to drink.
When I first read the Head Line I thought it said “Tom Brokaw”... ;O)

[mad_as_he$$]

Fraud by a broker? I am shocked and stunned. This is hugh and series. Get a grip the bookies - I mean brokers are bigger crooks than politicians. Where is that story about the monkeys....