Posted on 12/13/2008 3:21:11 AM PST by SkyPilot
Some of America’s wealthiest socialites were facing ruin last night after the arrest of a Wall Street big hitter accused of the largest investor swindle perpetrated by one man.
Shock and panic spread through the country clubs of Palm Beach and Long Island after Bernard Madoff, a trading powerbroker for more than four decades, allegedly confessed to a fraud that will cost his wealthy investors at least $50 billion – perhaps the largest swindle in Wall Street history.
Mr Madoff, 70, a former Nasdaq stock chairman, was apparently turned in by his two sons and arrested on Thursday morning at his Manhattan apartment by the FBI. Andrew Calamari, a senior enforcement official at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, described the scheme as “a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions”.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.timesonline.co.uk ...
Andrew Calamari, a senior enforcement official at the US Securities and Exchange Commission
They have tentacles everywhere
Think is still wet on this one.
You should have seen all the people in the building trying to get to the office and get there money. A lot of old people and trust fund kids.
"I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion und a yacht."
Food? Gold?
I guess it would depend on how bad the collapse was. I was visiting Brazil on business when the Cruzeiro collapsed. US dollars became very popular. For people who couldn't afford to buy or trade for dollars a lot of barter took place. Businesses either had enough equity of some kind other than cash or they cut a deal with their lenders (interest rates on all loans in Latin America are "adjustable") or they failed. Workers got paid either in worthless money or in product - not very useful if you worked for an insurance company but if you happened to work for a pharmaceutical company... It never got to the point where people were demanding only gold or silver for payment because foreign currencies could be used (illegally) as alternatives.
If things ever really hit rock bottom we'd be back to the point where shelter, clothing, water, food and a place to grow it being the only valuable commodities. In order for that to happen the whole planet would have to go down and since there are a lot of places poorer than the US we'd have at least some time to prepare. This is why rice riots in Indonesia or Peru make me a little nervous.
Yeah but some UAW guy makes two bucks more an hour than he should, so its okay to bailout this crook and his marks.
Damn that looks good!
sw
Well, if a UAW worker with a high school degree is making more in compensation and benefits than competitors, and you multiply that by thousands, and thousands, and thousands of workers.......throw in 3 million retirees, plus $17M that GM paid for in Viagra last year for workers, and throw in "Job Banks" where the automakers have to pay for people for sit around on their Gluteus maximus and navel gaze each other while telling dirty jokes....then.........OK. 
Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)
GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)
Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)
Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)
You are right more money for AIG and this crook and his stooopid marks because they have fine upstanding principles.
Coincidentally, my brother also went through the experience. His time was straight out of an episode of "Barney Miller".
Imagine the local fire department being called to a "prison" in the middle of the night, and it taking 30 minutes for them to find anyone other than inmates. And the example of slipping out to McDonald's, 100% true.
Of course I realized that most prisons are beyond unpleasant.
No walls, no fences, basically the honor system.
And, sure, if one were caught they risked ending up in less pleasant circumstances.
The only risk at this particular facility was the high-carb diet.
Something still stinks about this. The guy swindled people out of 50 billion dollars. He sets up all of his relatives for life with the proceeds of his swindle over the years. Then, when he has lived a fabulously wealthy lifestyle for his entire adult life and thingsw start to fall apart he “confesses” to his sons, who turn him in. Sounds like an old man will go to jail leaving his family wealthy beyond belief. If I could make a tradeoff like that for my family I’d do it. also, if he’s so broke how did he make $10 million dollars bail?
At a Federal BOP Camp?
They check out and go to McDonalds?
I don't think so.
Please send me that link that proves this.
The stock market in the late 80’s and 90’s pretty much always went up. It was a superbull market. Anyone could be an expert. He was still showing the hefty returns after the markets went flat to south late 99 forward. He was passing himself off as being a knowledgeable stock picker. He was not of course, just a gambler like most of the goofs in it. Madoff was using money from one account to book as investment revenue for another. It could have gone on forever assuming people didn’t make a run on the Bernie Bank. The money went to the sellers of securities he purchased too high and the proceeds from the buyers of securities he sold too low. It’s pretty simple really.
If your brother did so, the BOP should revoke his probation (if he is still on it) and send him back. The rules are very, very, very clear.
A microwaved Salisbury Steak in a prison waiting room with 400 other people, infants screaming, women changing diapers next to us, etc was a treat.
AIG can take a leap as far I am concerned....
and this crook and his stooopid marks because they have fine upstanding principles.
Como? Where did I defend Bernard Madoff on this thread? Show me.
You brought the UAW into the thread - not me pal.
I didn't say anything about "checking out". They just walked off site and came back before there was any chance of being discovered.
Sorry I don't have any "evidence" for you. It's just word of mouth. But having seen the facility it's more than easy to imagine.
Which BOP Camp?
Quite honestly, I've been told by my brother that "spilling the beans" to too great an extent could result in some very harsh consequences for him, even though his time there has come and gone. Otherwise I would be happy to go into much greater detail.
I'm sure if I committed some prison-worthy offense I would be stuffed somewhere more closely resembling the set on "Con Air", and I'm equally sure that many federal prisons are absolutely hell-ish.
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