Financial Fraudster Bernie Madoff gets 150 years

[Netto Azure]

Fraudster Madoff gets 150 years

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8124838.stm

[Saito-kun]

Say what now? I must be out of it, I've never heard of this dude.

[Ryouko]

I am really glad to see this guy get his due. Such a scammer. >_<
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"Cats are interesting. They're kind of like girls. When they come talk to you, it's great. When you go talk to them, it doesn't go so well." - Miyamoto

[Ryouko]

I am really glad to see this guy get his due. Such a scammer. >_<
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"Cats are interesting. They're kind of like girls. When they come talk to you, it's great. When you go talk to them, it doesn't go so well." - Miyamoto

[Poochy.EXE]

Pfft. For what this guy did, 150 years in jail is a freakin' slap on the wrist. I say the government should seize everything he owns, house and furniture included, sell it all off, and use the money raised to pay back his victims. If it's not enough to pay back the victims in full with interest, tie him up somewhere in public and let people off the street kick him in the crotch for $10 a kick. That'll raise millions.
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Math problems? Call 1-800-[(10x)(13i)^2]-[sin(xy)/2.362x].

[Ryouko]

From what I've heard, they -have- seized all of his property, including what his wife owns too.
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"Cats are interesting. They're kind of like girls. When they come talk to you, it's great. When you go talk to them, it doesn't go so well." - Miyamoto

[Ryouko]

From what I've heard, they -have- seized all of his property, including what his wife owns too.
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"Cats are interesting. They're kind of like girls. When they come talk to you, it's great. When you go talk to them, it doesn't go so well." - Miyamoto

[Poochy.EXE]

Hm, upon further research, it seems they have been attempting to find and seize all his property, though some suspect he's still hiding money in some offshore accounts. I still say they should sell kicks to his crotch to raise funds.

The press coverage of his trial was a nice dose of schadenfreude, though.
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Math problems? Call 1-800-[(10x)(13i)^2]-[sin(xy)/2.362x].

[Saito-kun]

I don't know anything about this particular case, but this is why I don't like press coverage of court trials. He may (and probably does) deserve what he got, but I've seen people wrongfully vilified in the public eye because of cultivated schadenfreude...

For that reason I keep my head out of big trials so I don't get fed up with the stupidity on anyone's/everyone's part.

[Poochy.EXE]

[Saito-kun]

Good grief, that's some greed.

And... that's all I'm going to say.

[Sol]

To give you an idea of how many people and organizations were defrauded by him, people like Elie Weasel and Stephen Spielburg's charity lost incredible amounts of money. Countless other celebrities and normal investors lost their entire life savings.

I have no sympathy for his wife and kids--it's quite obvious that they were in on the whole thing, even if there is no way to prove it. Hell, the minute that Madoff was indicted on those charges, his wife was scrambling to claim that several properties were hers so they wouldn't be seized. A futile effort.
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[Sol]

To give you an idea of how many people and organizations were defrauded by him, people like Elie Weasel and Stephen Spielburg's charity lost incredible amounts of money. Countless other celebrities and normal investors lost their entire life savings.

I have no sympathy for his wife and kids--it's quite obvious that they were in on the whole thing, even if there is no way to prove it. Hell, the minute that Madoff was indicted on those charges, his wife was scrambling to claim that several properties were hers so they wouldn't be seized. A futile effort.
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[Tachyon360]

[HeatShadow]

All I can wonder is why they decided to give him "150 years" rather than simply a life sentence, since that's essentially what it is. The guy's not exactly young, nobody's going to assume he's going to live more than another 150 years.

You know what they REALLY need to do, though? Put this guy to work. The type of labor doesn't matter, but I would think it fitting for a thief like this to spend the rest of his life working while whatever rewards he might earn from such efforts go to either the state or his victims. I've always been a big fan of poetic justice.
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[Ryouko]

They gave him 150 years to show that if anyone else commits a similar crime, that they can expect just as harsh of a sentence. The judge knows full well how old the guy is, but there's probably a lot of other crooks they're trying to go after.
_________________
"Cats are interesting. They're kind of like girls. When they come talk to you, it's great. When you go talk to them, it doesn't go so well." - Miyamoto

[Ryouko]

They gave him 150 years to show that if anyone else commits a similar crime, that they can expect just as harsh of a sentence. The judge knows full well how old the guy is, but there's probably a lot of other crooks they're trying to go after.
_________________
"Cats are interesting. They're kind of like girls. When they come talk to you, it's great. When you go talk to them, it doesn't go so well." - Miyamoto

[Saito-kun]

Stealing money is terrible and awful and all... but going to jail for life for it is saddening... I'm not saying it's undeserved, but.. it's just money?

I mean, I realize people were ruined from this and it's terrible and living without money is incredibly hard, (I do. I understand.) but it just... makes me sad. :\ I dunno. I don't know the guy, don't know the case too well. I'd feel differently if I suffered from it I'm sure.

Joking about kicking him in the crotch is just plain nasty. That's reserved for child molesters.

[linkfreak131]

[Saito-kun]

So he's pretty much taking the fall for all money launderers combined?

[linkfreak131]

No, just what he's done. But his sentence is supposed to be an example that this kind of thing won't be taken lightly.
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[Saito-kun]

[Sol]

I don't think you're getting the full extent of what happened. People's lives were ruined because of him. Their life savings were completely destroyed, and they're left with nothing at all. It's a sad fact, but in today's society, money defines who you are and how you'll live.

Madoff isn't just getting a 150 year life sentence because of all the lives he's ruined, although it's a huge part of it. It's because of all the laundering and fraud he's been up to under the US government's nose, as well as manipulating the system in such a way that he got a huge payoff because of it.

I don't understand what's so difficult about grasping that he's getting a 150 year term in jail because of what he did. $65 billion dollars is hugely unprecedented--and, as Poochy pointed out earlier, US Criminal Law doesn't even have provisions for an amount that huge. Do you know how many people he's defrauded for $65 billion? The worst part is that many of them aren't likely to get even half of what they lost back.

And I'll tell you what. If this had happened before with another person who caused a massive billion dollar Ponzi Scheme, he'd still be up on the same charges now. What's more, it's more than likely he would have been caught earlier.
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[Sol]

I don't think you're getting the full extent of what happened. People's lives were ruined because of him. Their life savings were completely destroyed, and they're left with nothing at all. It's a sad fact, but in today's society, money defines who you are and how you'll live.

Madoff isn't just getting a 150 year life sentence because of all the lives he's ruined, although it's a huge part of it. It's because of all the laundering and fraud he's been up to under the US government's nose, as well as manipulating the system in such a way that he got a huge payoff because of it.

I don't understand what's so difficult about grasping that he's getting a 150 year term in jail because of what he did. $65 billion dollars is hugely unprecedented--and, as Poochy pointed out earlier, US Criminal Law doesn't even have provisions for an amount that huge. Do you know how many people he's defrauded for $65 billion? The worst part is that many of them aren't likely to get even half of what they lost back.

And I'll tell you what. If this had happened before with another person who caused a massive billion dollar Ponzi Scheme, he'd still be up on the same charges now. What's more, it's more than likely he would have been caught earlier.
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<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Midnight]

Also, at this point, recall that Madoff's lawyers tried to argue for a 12 year sentence, citing his advanced years as a reason. I believe that the judge did the right thing in handing down the maximum--Madoff made it so that his victims had no future, so his future was taken as a cost. Granted, a sentence of 50 years or so would have done the same, but again, as mentioned above, the maximum sentence sends a message to all of the would-be confidence men out there.

While I was watching coverage of the brief after-trial period, one of his victims who spoke out in the courtroom spoke to the media right afterwards, and summed up the situation quite aptly--"What money?", as a response to a question as to what to do next. It's very unlikely they'll even get a significant fraction of what they lost back. These people were all victims of a confidence scheme--Madoff deliberately built his credentials (albeit dubious ones) so that he would appear honest, and that's how he defrauded every one of his victims.
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