White Collar Crime: Bernie Madoff And The Ponzi Scheme

Introduction: Bernie Madoff was a well-respected financier, his company Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC was very well known and even helped launch the Nasdaq stock market. Madoffs company was well trusted and he even had celebrity cliental such a Steven Spielberg, Kevin bacon, and Kyra Sedgwick. Madoff came from a low income family however, he was able to start his company from getting a $50,000 loan from his in-laws and he using money that he had saved from side jobs such as lifeguarding and installing sprinkler systems to found his company. The successfulness of Madoff’s company came from the company’s ability to adapt to change and us modern day computer technology. As his business grew he stated employing family members to help “His younger brother, Peter, joined him in the business in 1970 and became the firm 's chief compliance officer. Later, Madoff 's sons, Andrew and Mark, also worked for the company as traders. Peter 's daughter, Shana, became a rules-compliance lawyer for the trading division of her uncle 's firm, and his son, Roger, joined the firm before his death in 2006”(Bernard Madoff Biography 2016) Unfortunately on December 11th 2008 Bernie Madoff became well known for a whole new reason. He had been accused of performing an elaborate Ponzi scheme and he had been reported to the federal authorities by his own sons. A year later he admitted to the investigators that he had lost $50 billion dollars of his investors’ money and pled guilty to 11

Bernie Madoff began his career as an investment broker in 1960, where he legally bought and sold over-the-counter stocks not listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). From the 1960’s through the 1990’s, Madoff’s success and business grew substantially, mainly from a closed circle of known investors and friends through word of mouth. In the 1990’s Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities traded up to 10 percent of the NASDAQ on any given day. With the success of the securities business, Madoff started an illegal money-management business, promising his investors consistent returns from 10-12 percent, unheard of returns at the time, which should have tipped off most investors that something was amiss.

Bernie Madoff robbed his investors for billions of dollars, treated his family like toxic scum and is even responsible for his son's suicide. In other words, Madoff is just a bad dude. But there is more to this guy than Ponzi schemes and broken dreams. Let's dig a little deeper on this iconic criminal and discover some rare facts.

From about 1960 to the 1990’s, Madoff’s business grew like crazy, mainly from some well-known investors and friends. Because of all this Bernie became very successful very fast. This caused him to start getting greedy. In the 1990’s Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities began conducting illegal acts of fraud, Madoff started an illegal money-management business, promising his investors consistent returns. Investors were so interested in the high returns, that no one questioned Madoff or his strategy. In 2008, investors began requesting payouts for their investments and Madoff started to become very desperate for new funds. His strategy began to unravel and the truth of his actions started to come out, shocking many people. This case blew up like crazy and once investigators started looking into Madoff’s business they discovered all Madoff was doing was running a Ponzi scheme. He would take funds from new investors, and use that to pay off the older investors. While doing this Bernie was also pocketing a large portion of the money, causing this to be one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in

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

On Dec. 11, 2008, Bernard Lawrence Madoff confessed that his vaunted investment business was all "one big lie," a Ponzi scheme colossal in volume and scope that cost investors $65 billion. Overnight, Madoff became the new poster child for Wall Street gall, greed and

In this research paper that you are about to read you will learn something’s about white collar. You will be learning who coined the term, what it is, and you will also be learning who does it. The term white collar is define as- of or relating to the work done or those who work in an office or other professional environment. It was coined by the late great Edwin Sutherland in 1941. Sutherland said ‘’ white collar is a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation (siegel-337). Let me just give you some examples of a white collar crime, promulgating or misleading advertisements, illegal exploitation of employees, putting bad labels on goods, violating of measures statues etc.

Bernie Madoff came from a poor background after his parents emigrated from another country. He had the captivating story of someone coming from nothing and turning it into a lavish lifestyle. With the help of in-laws, he was able to invest in his dream of owning his own financial company. He made a name for himself by volunteering his time at Securities and Exchange Commission and being one of the first firms to use electronic trading. He was also a powerful figure in Washington, D.C. donating to the campaigns of both Republican and Democratic parties. While lobbying for stock market restructuring, he became a big figure among Wall Street and was treated like royalty at social events. He was able to manipulate some of the most wealthiest and

In the 1960s Bernie Madoff was hard worker known for creating one of the largest buying/selling market in NASDAQ. He rose from a penny stock trader to becoming a stockbroker, financial advisor, then chairman of the NADDAQ. But, from December 11, 2008 to present day, Bernie Madoff will be remember in history as the man who pull of the largest Ponzi scheme. Madoff was to make $50 billion disappear in this scheme, by using new investors’ money to pay out old investors. After numerous tips about how Madoff conducted business the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chose to investigate. The SECs investigation included searching through fabricated trading records of which no evidence was found to support the claim. It wasn’t until another

I think Bernard Madoff engaged in creating a Ponzi scheme because of greed. His unethical behavior was based on white collar crime (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2013). Mr. Madoff met the characteristics of a white collar criminal. The characteristics consist of people who are highly educated and considered as reliable among their subordinates and peers. They are usually in an executive position that would give them the power to commit their crimes to their company, employees, and investors (Ferrell, et al, 2013).

Madoff was able to align himself with wealthy individuals, leaders involved in foundations, business entities, and government. This gave him unlimited access to different groups of investors. Among Madoff’s Ponzi scheme victims, it is easy to find wealthy individuals, charitable organizations, and its stakeholders, such as employees, communities, vendors, and even the government.

Bernard Madoff created an image which ultimately allowed him to defraud over 4,800 people in a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme spanning over a possible 30 year timeframe (Ferrell, 2009). Maddof’s Ponzi scheme was made possible by his ability to secure new investors to fund the existing clients. “Ponzi scams are like fires with plenty of fuel: They keep going until the new money stops. Then they collapse” (Wasik, 2012, n.p.). Madoff built a “family” business, as well as a credible reputation (Ferrell, 2009). He made a name for himself in the investment world by effectively networking, NASDAQ chairman services, and falsely convincing investors a high rate of return on investments.

Introducing Bernard L. Madoff born April 29, 1938 in Queens, NY and is presently serving a one hundred fifty-year prison sentence. Who is this fraudster Bernard L Madoff also known as “Bernie” and what fraud did he commit? Bernie’s parents Ralph and Sylvia Madoff were Polish immigrants struggling and working during the Great Depression Era. In later years, his mother worked in finance as a broker-dealer for their company Gibraltar Securities. The SEC eventually forced the business to close due to non-reporting issues regarding the businesses financial condition. Around age twenty-two, Bernie Madoff started his own investment firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and was

A Ponzi scheme can be distinguished as “a swindle in which a quick return, made up of money from new investors, on an initial investment lures the victims into much bigger risks (Unabridged, 2016).” Madoff kept all extra money to expand his business and pay his employees, most of which were his family. The fact that Madoff engaged in a Ponzi scheme ultimately lead to his personal and professional demise. Madoff ended up in jail and his once prestigious company shut

Madoff Investment Securities, LLC. Bernie is considered to have ran the largest Ponzi scheme during the time he was running the firm. Whenever a client invested in his firm, he would deposit the money into one bank account and once a client wanted to cash out, he would pay them from this account. His firm was known for giving investors a high percentage of returns, nothing close to other investment firms. He kept this going for years by attracting new investors and obtaining new capital. He was arrested in 2008 when he admitted that part of his firm was a Ponzi scheme, losing approximately $50 billion of his investors’ money. With all the charges that he was found guilty of, he was sentenced to 150 years in