Rather big news from the USA, where a conman with the dead give-away name ‘Madoff’ managed to lose $50 billion of investors funds in a Ponzi scheme that makes most of Wall Street look like stuffy bean-counters.
Bernard Madoff, Conman
Like every House of Cards, it had to collapse eventually – even if the former Chairman of the Nasdaq stock market is the genius responsible.
According to Reuters, Madoff told senior employees of his firm on Wednesday that “it’s all just one big lie“. It explains “the $50 billion allegedly lost would make the hedge fund one of the biggest frauds in history“.
If the misfortune ruined Mr Madoff’s week, he’s not alone. Many investors were former neighbours. They may not be living in mansions much longer.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, there seems to be little coverage of this spectacular financial collapse on Fox News. Even CNN and the BBC don’t seem especially interested. Yet the sums involved are greater than the US auto industry’s current appeal for Federal assistance – and dwarf bribes allegedly sought by Governor Blagojevich of Illinois, the main topic de jour.
Palm Beach Mansion
Mr Madoff was released on $10 million bail. I imagine he’ll be keeping a low profile in America’s Sunshine State.
Even a nickoff to Israel may not be on the cards for the elderly fraudster. After last week, he may well have made too many life-long enemies there as well.
Here’s Laurence Leamer’s account of the debacle in the Huffington Post:
Those with the biggest financial gains generally had their money managed by Madoff. It was an honor having him handle your fortune. He didn’t take just anybody. He turned down all kinds of people, and that made you want to give the man even more of your money. When he took your fortune, he told you that he would tell you nothing about how he achieved his returns. He was a god. He had the Midas touch.
Yesterday Madoff was arrested and accused of running what probably will prove the greatest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world. He may have dissipated as much as fifty billion dollars into nothing. For the elite Jewish world, it is a curse of almost biblical proportion. I was at a dinner party last night and one of the guests called on his cell phone a man whose money Madoff had managed. I know the man and he is a generous, kind person who recently gave away over a hundred million dollars. He said that both his company’s retirement plan and his charitable foundation had been handled by Madoff. He was preparing to fly back to his Boston home to walk among the ruins. It’s a story told scores of times yesterday. Bankruptcy. Despair.
Madoff Ponzi Scheme Fnale
There was one largely Jewish charity event last evening. “It was like the Titanic,” one attendee said. “The ship was sinking, and people were crying, ‘I lost this and that.’ And everybody was drunk. The Titanic was going down and we might as well carry on.”
There is a feeling of incredible shame, embarrassment, of exposure, as if their whole world has been exposed as jerry built. This evening the synagogues in Palm Beach will be full. And there will be men and women listening to the truths of a great and ancient faith as they have never listened before.
Perhaps that’s why they don’t like this story on Fox?
It’s all too painful.
A Palestinian sits amidst ruins in Gaza
Painful like Gaza?
Well, not quite like Gaza.
More like the opposite side of the coin.
The source of all this pain is a system based on greed and lies, which creates artificial poverty so the rich can better strut like peacocks. Add a large dash of quasi-tribal sectarianism and the mix is pure poison.
Perhaps the defrauded denizens of Palm Beach should invite some Gazans over, to run workshops on making do with less?
