Madoff, why?
12-22-2008, 05:27 PM
#31
Registered User
Madoff belongs in real prison, with gang members, prison tats, etc. Not some country club, but the real deal. IF he survives to his release date, his future should be working in car washes, just like the other ordinary, low-life felons like him.
12-23-2008, 05:45 AM
#32
Administrator
What's the basis of any con? Suspension of disbelief. He was good, very good and his clients believed in him 100%. They considered it money in the bank and were never given a reason to question or had any doubt about his authenticity. They suspended disbelief that such returns were possible or even probable and were fully suckered in.
How many people have been suckered into the African Prince with a lot of money and nowhere to put it email scam or any of the other similar scams?
Greed is only one factor, perhaps the catalyst of such a scam. A lot of the victims of this scam were family trusts, endowments and charities which I don't think are motivated by pure greed. They really thought they were making a sound and sensible investment.
Like any good lie it promises just enough to be plausible but not so much as to raise suspicion. 11% wasn't that outrageous a return in a climate where people were expecting that just by putting money in an index fund. There are a number of people in this forum who only a few months ago were extolling the security and consistent returns of S&P500 index funds back when the index was at 1400-1500 and many who said that real estate was a sound investment you couldn't lose money on. After all, house prices have never, ever gone down.
I don't think the victims of this scam were exceptionally greedy or reckless. They were sold an investment which had been around for 30 years run by a proven winner of a fund manager and frankly that was enough for them not to question it.
The SEC is supposed to be the industry watchdog and keep the market safe from such scammers. At the first sign of trouble they should have done a full audit of the books and red flagged the investment for spontaneous followup. They should have kept their eye on the ball but instead the watchdog was licking its balls while the house got robbed.
On the bright side this scandal and a new, incoming, no bullshit, administration may just be what it takes to overhaul market oversight and regulation to make it a safer place for everyone. We all know there are crooked deals going on but there is nobody minding the store. Maybe that will change.
How many people have been suckered into the African Prince with a lot of money and nowhere to put it email scam or any of the other similar scams?
Greed is only one factor, perhaps the catalyst of such a scam. A lot of the victims of this scam were family trusts, endowments and charities which I don't think are motivated by pure greed. They really thought they were making a sound and sensible investment.
Like any good lie it promises just enough to be plausible but not so much as to raise suspicion. 11% wasn't that outrageous a return in a climate where people were expecting that just by putting money in an index fund. There are a number of people in this forum who only a few months ago were extolling the security and consistent returns of S&P500 index funds back when the index was at 1400-1500 and many who said that real estate was a sound investment you couldn't lose money on. After all, house prices have never, ever gone down.
I don't think the victims of this scam were exceptionally greedy or reckless. They were sold an investment which had been around for 30 years run by a proven winner of a fund manager and frankly that was enough for them not to question it.
The SEC is supposed to be the industry watchdog and keep the market safe from such scammers. At the first sign of trouble they should have done a full audit of the books and red flagged the investment for spontaneous followup. They should have kept their eye on the ball but instead the watchdog was licking its balls while the house got robbed.
On the bright side this scandal and a new, incoming, no bullshit, administration may just be what it takes to overhaul market oversight and regulation to make it a safer place for everyone. We all know there are crooked deals going on but there is nobody minding the store. Maybe that will change.
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