Deep Politics Forum

All the houses of cards are collapsing....one new one - of many....what will be left standing?....I think very little!

Bernie Madoff: "Bigger Than Enron"
John Carney | Dec 12, 08 11:15 AM
http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/200...than-enron
The world is still stunned by the brazen scam run by Bernie Madoff. Although there's some gallows humor about the debacle--mostly along the lines of "Bernie Made Off with my money"--there's also a lot of fear about how damaging this scandal could be.

The Wall Street Journal describes the world wide impact of Madoff's alleged fraud:

Christopher Miller, chief executive of London hedge fund ratings agency Allenbridge Hedgeinfo, said: "Some very big investor names are involved in this. The scheme could only work if enough investors were subscribing for him to pay money out. Some of the world's biggest hedge funds have been hit by this. There will be a monumental impact for the hedge fund industry, it could be larger then Enron.

"Some investors in Madoff's funds face 100% write-downs on the money they invested, they will suddenly be nursing full write-downs in December. When people realize the magnitude of this it will be fizzing around the stratosphere."

One asset manager based in Switzerland, home to many high-net-worth individuals who invest in funds of hedge funds, said: "Everyone's talking about this in Geneva. Several wealthy investors could be facing big losses."

A Ponzi scheme by any other name but one that ran into tens of billions -- and remained unscrutinized and de facto deregulated. The coolest millionaires who invested with Madoff thought he was running an "insider dealing scam" and were delighted to invest with him in what they imagined was a sure-fire "nice little earner".

Same old greed, but how many more of these scams and shenanigans are still hiding in the wings waiting to go bang in the coming months?

I have yet to see the difference between a ponzi scheme and 'normal' business practices in the corporate world. It's all shysters united that I can see.

But this does show how 'professional' all these funds are and how 'good' the oversight of them is. Not.

Magda Hassan Wrote:I have yet to see the difference between a ponzi scheme and 'normal' business practices in the corporate world. It's all shysters united that I can see.

But this does show how 'professional' all these funds are and how 'good' the oversight of them is. Not.

I think the difference is that Madoff has ripped off mostly rich investors, whereas the normal corporate world mostly just robs the masses.

The rich hate being robbed by one of their own. There'll be fire and brimstone fury over this, but out of the public gaze.

Surely there'll be another Weekend at Bernies sequel now. Spielberg must direct.

Mark Stapleton Wrote:I think the difference is that Madoff has ripped off mostly rich investors, whereas the normal corporate world mostly just robs the masses.

The rich hate being robbed by one of their own. There'll be fire and brimstone fury over this, but out of the public gaze.

Madoff has been arrested. Can anyone name another banker who was part of the scam of all scams -- the banking system rescue -- who has been treated likewise?

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/17/a..._charities

The Securities and Exchange Commission has admitted it missed repeated opportunities to discover what may be the largest financial fraud in history, a multi-billion-dollar pyramid scheme operated by Wall Street legend Bernard Madoff. Now several non-profits and foundations are being forced to close, because their entire endowments have been wiped out. We speak to Robert Crane of the now-shuttered New York-based JEHT Foundation and ProPublica reporter Paul Kiel.

David Guyatt Wrote:Madoff has been arrested. Can anyone name another banker who was part of the scam of all scams -- the banking system rescue -- who has been treated likewise?

Of course Madoff was arrested. He committed the most mortal of sins--he ripped off rich people.

Very big no-no.

As the Argentinians say "Arrest them all" and "They all must go".

As in Argentina it is only because it is hitting the 'middle classes', the class that is supposed to matter when it comes to the state, that there is any attention anyway. You noticed in all the campaigning about helping the 'middle classes'. No one eve mentions the 'poor' these days. It is almost taboo to talk about the 'poor' in public these days. Too many questions.

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Mark Stapleton Wrote:Of course Madoff was arrested. He committed the most mortal of sins--he ripped off rich people.

Very big no-no.

Agreed - many of his rich investors are now not so rich....BUT, as the names of various persons and funds involved come out, many were philanthropical persons, groups and funds that were helping people at the bottom. I presume there are several similar schemes that should be soon exposed. It is American style capitalism that is really the criminal enterprise here, but you can be sure they'll try to save it rather than scrap it.....