|
|
|
White-collar crime taken to a darker level |
|
|
|
Written by Lethbridge Herald
|
|
Wednesday, 01 July 2009 |
Take a look at the list of deadly sins and you'll recognize several in the life of Bernard Madoff, sentenced this week to 150 years in prison. One hundred and fifty years — the symbolic sentence makes a fruitless attempt to dispense justice beyond the grave.
The 71-year-old Wall Street financier who defrauded investors of $65 billion must have enjoyed the sins of extravagance, obviously greed and perhaps a heavy dose of envy and pride. And those sins have finally caught up with him after more than a decade of deceit and corruption.
U.S. Federal Court Judge Denny Chin described Madoff’s crimes as representing "extraordinary evil." The terms may seem harsh compared to evil crimes society has witnessed of the bloody variety, but the term fits the bill.
The size of his scam and the scope of the human toll rises beyond the lowly description of "white-collar crime" and into the realm of something far darker.
Madoff, apparently, singlehandedly pulled off the biggest investor fraud in U.S. history, no small feat given the number of investors who've been bilked over time. Given the chance, Madoff has refused to name anyone else responsible for the scheme that left individuals and charitable organizations in financial ruin.
How such a sizeable scam could be managed entirely by one man is difficult to believe. Perhaps holding the bag alone is the only honourable thing Madoff has left to do.
The scam was a common Ponzi, made unique only by the sheer mass of destruction it left behind. Investors handed over their lifesavings, their entire investment portfolios, on the promise of constant, high returns. And it seemed for years Madoff delivered. Unfortunately, there were no investments. The returns were all paid with new money being invested by new victims of the scam.
The Ponzi has no good way to end. Once the scam starts, it can only continue as long as fresh victims are handing over new money. And when it ends, it does so in devastating fashion because investors' cash is gone. In the Madoff case, just a tiny fraction of the $65 billion he took has been recovered, creating a long line of victims hoping for compensation. Whatever money they get will be pennies on the dollars they invested.
Unfortunately, the 150-year sentence, ridiculous by Canadian standards where even a life sentence doesn't mean a convict dies behind bars, won't bring back their lost riches. They are still out of luck and out of pocket.
Madoff's apology to his victims in the New York courtroom does little to help the situation either.
Fellow conscience-deprived fraudsters in waiting are unlikely to be deterred by the thought of a 150-year sentence, far steeper than the penalty handed to other corporate crooks in the U.S. Unless their greed leads them to the miracle of immortality, the sentence could be 25 years, 150 or 3,000 with the same result.
For the case to have lasting impact, there must be fallout for the Securities and Exchange Commission which failed to stop this financial train wreck.
The evil of greed won't be willed away. It can only be curtailed by regulation and enforcement before more smooth-talking, well-dressed criminals so brashly pull off another billion-dollar heist.
|
|
|
|
