Ponzi scammer Madoff gets 150 years
p2pnet news view | Crime:- For anyone who’s been following the Madoff trial, he’s been sentenced to 150 years in the slammer.
And with that kind of sentence imposed, he’s unlikely to end up in a federal holiday camp, the destination of all too many so-called white-collar criminals.
Bernard Madoff ran the largest Ponzi scam in history.
A Ponzi fraud is a fake investment operation, “that pays returns to investors out of the money paid by subsequent investors rather than from profit,” explains the Wikipedia.
Madoff swindled ‘investors’ out of $50 billion, give or take, and, “That’s him with the smirk on his face,” said p2pnet last December.
He’s not smirking now.
“Looks a lot movie star Michael Douglas, doesn’t he?” – said our story, going on »»»
Speaking of actors, Kevin Bacon and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, were suckered by Madoff, say numerous reports.
“Bacon joins Hollywood victims such as director Steven Spielberg and his DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg,” says the Evening Standard, going on:
“Their Wunderkinder Foundation charity is believed to have lost millions of dollars. Forrest Gump screenwriter Eric Roth was also hit. Uma Thurman’s fiancé, hedge fund tycoon Arpad Busson, is also among the victims.
Madoff’s lawyers were asking for a 12-year-sentence.
Now for the fall-out
“Madoff’s guilt has been proven, but regulators and the legal system must now decide who else shares the blame,” says Swissinfo.ch, continuing:
“Directors at Geneva-based wealth manager Aurelia Finance are facing criminal charges while Optimal Investment Services, a hedge fund of Spain’s Banco Santander that is headquartered in the city, was also caught out by the con. Optimal has offered to pay back some of the losses to clients, along with UBP and Notz Stucki.
“In addition, Swiss banking giant UBS had its fingers burned after helping clients to funnel funds into the Madoff scheme via two investment funds it administered in Luxembourg. These funds are now being wound down and UBS said it never advised clients to invest with Madoff, but angry clients are still demanding their money back.
“Prominent Zurich financial lawyer Daniel Fischer told swissinfo.ch that institutions and possibly individuals could face a raft of legal action from within Switzerland and from other countries.
” ‘How could this happen when we had a lot of signals and alerts that this [the Madoff fund] could not be OK?’ he said. ‘If someone does not want to see the consequences because they are earning good fees then it could be negligence. Madoff pulled the money, rather than the wool, over people’s eyes’.”
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
p2pnet – Actor Kevin Bacon is a Madoff victim, December 31, 2009
Evening Standard – No lifeguards at this pool … Madoff loses $10,000 statue, December 31, 2008
Swissinfo.ch – Swiss institutions brace for Madoff fallout, June 29, 2009
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