Madoff Fraud Research Paper

As long as the investment financial market existed, only one man was able to etched his name to the investment history as the greatest fraudster, and his name is Bernard Madoff. A brilliant fraudster that able to swindled over $50 billion from thousands of people using a type of investment fraud called "Ponzi Scheme." Using this type of investment frauds and his charming personality, Madoff stolen money from politicians, such as Senator Frank Lautenberg, famous celebrities, such as Kelvin Bacon, hedge fund directors, such as R. Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, universities, such as Yeshiva University, banking institutions, such as Union

What is right or wrong? People base their values of right and wrong on what they have learned from their experiences (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2018). What one person sees as wrong, may be a normal for another. Most people are taught to work hard, save money, and invest for a future retirement. However, when it comes to money, some people lose all principles and standards of behavior. There were several ethical issues in the Madoff case. They include: stealing, cheating, lying, misrepresentation, and deliberate deception. Madoff used the Ponzi scheme or the money pyramid to make his money. In the Ponzi scheme, money was taken from new investors and given to existing customers as earning without being invested. Was this right or wrong? Throughout this case study ethical concerns can be seen on both sides, the investors and Madoff’s.

Bernie Madoff was one of the most prolific Ponzi-scheme artists in history. Madoff schemes netted him millions of dollars. Mr. Madoff used his BMIS Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities a New York Limited Liability company, to commit fraud, money laundering, and perjury. This is just a few things that Mr. Bernard Madoff has done to many innocent investors, who believed in Mr. Madoff, and everything he stated. Due to Mr. Madoff’s action he has changed so many people’s lives. Some have lost everything, some committed suicide, and others just humiliated by Mr. Madoff. This paper is to tell you about Mr.

Many times in a Ponzi scheme the offender targets people they do not know personally but not Madoff. He had family, friends, employees and even charities and non-profit organizations as investors. “He tapped local money pulled in from country clubs and charity dinners, where investors sought him out to casually plead with him to manage their savings so they could start reaping the steady, solid returns their envied friends were getting” (Colesanti, 2012). “Levy invested $100,000” for Dell’Orefice, who felt honored to be a part of the “exclusive fund” (Lewis, 2010). Sheryl Weinstein, who was a friend of Madoffs for nearly 24 years, lost her entire savings to Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. “The charitable foundation of philanthropist Carl Shapiro had invested about 45 percent of its assets ($345 million) in Madoff's fund” (Auerbach, 2009). It is “estimated that Madoff's scam cost Jewish philanthropies at least $600 million, and

The Ponzi Scheme to Make History: An Informative Speech Presented in Comm 1100 SEC 24d Introduction I. Have you ever heard about the biggest Ponzi scheme that had about 65 billion dollars under management? II. A Ponzi scheme is a type of fraud that works by paying back quick, usually in high returns to investors using money invested by other investors. III.

Introduction Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff ran one of the largest Ponzi Schemes. A Ponzi scheme is a scam investment designed to separate investors from their money. It is named after Charles Ponzi, who constructed one such scheme at the beginning of the 20th century. The scheme is designed to convince the public to place their money into a fraudulent investment. Once the scam artist feels that enough money has been collected he disappears taking all the money with him.

Charles Ponzi was an Italian immigrant who, born in 1882 in Parma, Italy. Ponzi arrived in Boston in 1903 with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes. Ponzi started out working odd jobs and later moved to Montreal, where he found a job as a teller at Bank Zarossi. The bank went bankrupt leaving Ponzi penniless. However, it does not make one more unethical than the other. Both Ponzi and Madoff made a decision to rob and scam others to benefit from their investments. Although neither is more or less unethical than the other yet such a decision would question Madoff’s intelligence because Madoff was a highly intelligent successful multimillionaire with a reputation who should have known the consequences of the Ponzi schemes. Therefore he allowed greed to get him

Throughout history there have been things called Ponzi schemes ruining people lives around the world. This report will include: what it is, how it works, characteristics,

This cohort believes there is nothing wrong with investments especially if you are investing in the rights things. The bible says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Notwithstanding, everyone should guard themselves against illegal and unethical Ponzi Schemes. Not to sound so spiritual, but in this cohort opinion, the first thing to do to ensure that Ponzi schemes like Bernard Madoff do not happen in the future is the pray, considering even the best can be tricked just as so many professionals before. Ponzi schemes are illegal and unethical and will bring hurt, pain, and anguish especially for those who are last to participate.

Bernard Madoff had full control of the organizational leadership of Bernard Madoff Investments Securities LLC. Madoff used charisma to convince his friends, members of elite groups, and his employees to believe in him. He tricked his clients into believing that they were investing in something special. He would often turn potential investors down, which helped Bernard in targeting the investors with more money to invest. Bernard Madoff created a system which promised high returns in the short term and was nothing but the Ponzi scheme. The system’s idea relied on funds from the new investors to pay misrepresented and extremely high returns to existing investors. He was doing this for years; convincing wealthy individuals and charities to

This paper introduces Bernard L. Madoff a fraudster who orchestrated a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. The paper discusses elements that make up a Ponzi scheme and explains what a Ponzi scheme is. The paper goes on to introduce some of the victim’s and examines some reasons why someone might fall victim to a Ponzi scheme. The paper describes the three elements making up the fraud triangle and how they relate to the fraud and the fraudster. This paper covers Bernard Madoff’s background and history and how he committed the fraud analyzing the fraud triangle. The paper describes ways to correct the issue, accounting principles violated, and recommendations for a fix. Finally, the paper looks at internal and external controls violated and ends with a conclusion.

I would first like to begin this paper by saying why I decide to chose this topic out of the 3 choices. I believe that all of the choices were credible and a viable topic in their own regards, but the reason this one hit home for me was because of the simplicity of the scandal. It’s hard to believe that someone could have made off with the amount of money Bernard did when the idea of a Ponzi scheme was notable as early as the 19th century, and was named after Charles Ponzi in 1920 after his scandal created enough issues to make it more aware to the public of what was happening. The fact that this happened almost 100 years later at the level that it did and where it happened made me extremely concerned and interested in the topic. In this paper I will cover the details happening up to the scandal, the scandal itself, the people involved in the scandal, the legislation and regulations implemented after the scandal, and my views on the outcome of the scandal.

A “Ponzi Scheme” is an investment fraud that involves the payment of alleged returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Ponzi scheme organizers often seek new investors by showing potential in their company; they entice investors to invest funds in opportunities claimed to generate high returns with little or no risk. In many Ponzi schemes, the fraudsters focus on attracting new money to make promised payments to earlier-stage investors and to use for personal expenses, instead of engaging in any legal investment activity.

Operated through a complex, cryptic structure Bernie Madoff, CEO of Bernie L. Madoff Investment Securities (BMIS), perpetuated the most embellished Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen. The basis of the securities fraud that took place approximately between 1991 – 2008 was influenced by Bernie Madoff’s reliance upon an unqualified staff, outdated software, organizational seclusion, a personal halo effect, and weaknesses in the regulating body. Madoff had the confidence of the public, yet to pull off such an elaborate scheme, he relied on a startling number of family members, vital accomplices working on the illegal trading floor such as Frank D. Pascali, IT staff members, and a separate BMIS branch of international employees

Third, Ponzi was extremely talented at manipulating victims’ emotions. Ponzi was able to capitalize on individuals’ greed. When people began to see their friends and family members receive dividends from investments, they too wanted in on the scam.