I think that's the gist of this legislation - it's practically a Ponzi Schemers Protection Act (Ponzi Spa, for short)...
You have to take into consideration that Madoff was running several simultaneous scams-----(1) a Ponzi fraud; (2) laundering tax-free money, (3) IRS fraud facilitation; (4) a protection racket (shielding certain investors from scrutiny); (5) Dem campaign fraud.
So do Obama and Dems in government, but they have the legal protection for their racket. To mix Willie Sutton and Gordon Gekko metaphors, Big Government is good because that's where the big money is.
Additional info on SEC and R. Allen Stanford:
Report Says SEC Missed Many Shots at Stanford - WSJ (sub), 2010 April 17, by Michael R. Crittenden and Kara Scannell
The report by the SEC's inspector general says SEC examiners concluded four times between 1997 and 2004 that Mr. Stanford's businesses were fraudulent, but each time decided not to go further. It singles out the former head of the SEC's enforcement office in Fort Worth, Texas, accusing him of repeatedly quashing Stanford probes and then trying to represent Mr. Stanford in private practice. The former SEC official, Spenser Barasch, is now a partner at law firm Andrews Kurth LLP. He couldn't be reached for comment. ... The inspector heneral referred Mr. Barasch for possible disbarment from practicing law. ..... SEC Inspector General David Kotz's report suggests the agency's mistakes in the Stanford case were in part the result of a culture that favored easily resolved cases over messier ones. Cases such as the alleged Stanford fraud were not considered "quick hit" or "slam dunk," and examiners were discouraged from pursuing them, Mr. Kotz found. Unlike the Madoff case, in which Mr. Madoff's highly technical descriptions of his supposed trading misled the SEC's examiners, the agency quickly recognized signs of an apparent Ponzi scheme at Mr. Stanford's operation. Examiners noted that Mr. Stanford was promising to pay investors a return well above the market, without any apparent way of delivering on that promise. In 1997, just two years after Mr. Stanford's businesses registered with the agency, a Fort Worth examination official told her branch chief to "keep your eye on these people" — a reference to Mr. Stanford — "because this looks like a Ponzi scheme to me and some day it's going to blow up." That was among the first such findings, and it was followed by similar conclusions in 1998, 2002 and 2004, according to the inspector general. ..... SEC enforcement officials also appear to have ignored warnings from insiders at Stanford's operations. The report said a letter was forwarded to the SEC in October 2003 by the National Association of Securities Dealers. Using all capital letters, it warned that the Stanford businesses "will destroy the life savings of many." ..... The Securities and Exchange Commission suspected Texas financier R. Allen Stanford of running a Ponzi scheme as early as 1997 but took more than a decade to pursue him seriously, according to a report further tarring the agency that missed Bernard Madoff's huge fraud.
April 15, 2010
Department of Justice Press Release
For Immediate Release
United States Attorney’s Office
District of New Jersey
Contact: (973) 645-2700
Third Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty to Illegally Transmitting Cash to Rabbi and Cooperating Witness
TRENTON, NJ—A Brooklyn, New York man pleaded guilty today to operating an illegal money transmitting business that transferred large amounts of cash to a cooperating witness and to Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim, the then-principal rabbi of Congregation Ohel Yaacob in Deal, New Jersey, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Akiva Aryeh Weiss (a/k/a “Arye Weiss”), 54, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Joel A. Pisano to a one-count Information that charged him with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, or “cash house,” out of a location in Brooklyn.
At his plea hearing, Weiss admitted that, from June 2007 to July 2009, he operated an unlicensed money transmitting business with individuals residing in Israel, and that in conducting his business from a location in Brooklyn, he transferred thousands of dollars in cash to Ben Haim and a cooperating witness who was acting for Ben Haim. Weiss admitted that, during the relevant period, he transferred between $200,000 and $400,000 in cash to Ben Haim and the cooperating witness.
Today’s guilty plea stems from a two-track undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) investigation into public corruption and international money laundering which resulted in the charging of 44 individuals via criminal Complaints on July 23, 2009. At that time, Weiss was charged with conspiring with Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim, 59, of Elberon, New Jersey, to launder money and operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Other “cash house” operators, Yeshaye Ehrental (a/k/a “Yeshayahu Ehrental”) and Schmuel Cohen (a/k/a “Schmulik Cohen”), also were charged on that same date with conspiring with Ben Haim. On April 14, 2010, Ehrental and Cohen pleaded guilty before Judge Pisano to operating illegal money transmitting businesses.
The charge to which Weiss pleaded guilty carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Judge Pisano continued Weiss’ release on a $300,000 bond and home detention with electronic monitoring pending sentencing.
In addition, at the plea hearing, Weiss agreed not to contest the forfeiture of $157,757 in U.S. currency that was seized from his business by the FBI on July 23, 2009. Weiss, Ehrental, and Cohen are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Pisano on July 26, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. The case against Ben Haim is pending.
In determining an actual sentence, Judge Pisano will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which recommend sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offenses, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors, including acceptance of responsibility.
The judge, however, has discretion and is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all of that time.
Fishman credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, and Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge William P. Offord, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The case involving Weiss is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Nakly of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark. The charges and allegations contained in the Complaint against Ben Haim are merely accusations, and Ben Haim is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 10-106 ### Defense Counsel: Gino Josh Singer, Esq., New York, NY
http://newark.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/nk041510b.htm