Madoff & Dreier: The Uppercut & Bodyblow to Wall Street

" Largest ponzi Scheme in history " ? Somebody ought to take a hard look at the Social Security system.

Wall Street professionals need to recognize that they CANNOT Afford by any means to go on as if it is business as before. As important as the material damage done by these (and also other recent) fraud committed by trusted individuals, is the encouragement thereby given to haters and bigots. This unpleasant truth must be faced, and reactions and preventative measures planned.

Petters and Madoff had similar returns 9% to 12%. It was an asset backed lending guise Petters was selling. The numbers were defined. Petters was even able to back it up by showing Costco's electronics sales and the growth. It wouldn't make sense in Madoff because it was a trading/securities operation. Due dilligence wasn't there. As a Petters shareholder I was always concerned about fraud. We thought he was checking collateral, checking relationships, keeping accounting was an absolute. It would be like not taking a shower after a long workout. These are so obvious one would be suspected criminal not to do it. The fund manager of Lancelot told the shareholders he was checking the warehouse goods, he wasn't. That was a very costly lie to tell. He never called Costco, Sam's or BJ's to ask about the relationships. This would have immediately exposed the scam. The Lancelot fund only had to watch the money. There were no levers to pull or buttons to push. No securities or bonds to worry about. All he had to do was make sure the loans came back every 180 days. Make sure you check the collateral every loan. This was simply an accounting exercise. So what was he doing for 7 years? The answer is raising money. He made 2 and 20. he made hundreds of millions for himself. He gave Petters 1.8 billion dollars and he was never suspicious. Petters even got him to borrow 60 million from banks. This manager has 15 years in respected hedgefunds. Due dilligence was a said to be a strong point of his. He seemed to have rolled out a red carpet for Petters. A welcome mat like no other. You couldn't find a crook on the street corner that could have lost more to Petters. I have a 4 year old nephew that wouldn't have fallen for these tricks. Both Madoff and Petters should have been caught. Madoff by the SEC. Petters by any number of entities.

I keep saying this, but apparently no one is listening. Everyone thinks that there is a solution to the nations financial woes. That all the buttheads will "get what's coming to them", etc. Not gonna happen. There is no solution that includes everyone. There are only those who will survive (the minority), and those who won't (everyone else). The objective is to survive longer than the other guy. Compassion is not part of the equation.

Not exactly news on Main Street that Wall Street is full of crooks! Next you will be telling us that our government is corrupt.

Anyone consistently delivering above average returns has to be either cheating or stealing. That is the whole point of averages. That said there is actually no solvent bank in existence where all the investors could ask for their money on the same day and hope to get paid. He just got caught because so many people need cash right now.

Oh Snap... The big boys get taken by the bigger boy. This is only one of many that maybe seen in the future. I don't even want to think about when my SSA comes and there is no one paying at the bottom. Thank you LBJ for the Great Society. Real people, with less than sky high piles of money to through around, always know that the smartest person in the room is most likely neither smart nor one to be given money without the needed documentation and oversight. So having money does not impart the sense to handle it with wisdom.

Where was Chris Cox and SEC to regulate and oversee Madoffs large ticket item? Was he in the same Coma he was in while Fannie and Freddie lost touch with reality. Why are the same incompitent individuals in Congress?

The irony of the phrase "...one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history" has not been lost on us non-financial insiders who have been getting whacked fairly regularly in our dealings with the Wall Street crowd. Having watched Paulson and Bush attach nearly $7-Trillion in unfunded obligations in the last two months, to the existing $12-Trillion in current debt, and tens of trillions in established unfunded obligations of our government, it really makes Mr. Madoff's take look puny. In fact, as I go down the growing list of folks who got stung, I'm starting to kinda like the guy!

The IRS has the biggest Ponzi scheme going. Guess the word here is: "Don't cheat, the government hates the competition."

Does it seem odd that his sons turned him in after working with him for all that time (current wisdom is the sons had no information on this crime)? Is it possible that he had the sons turn him in because he was going down and wanted to save them?

I don't understand who these guys sleep at night. I am a small business man and maybe will stay small if that is what it takes to be big time.

How not who...

Madoff isn't the largest ponzi scheme....Congress and the White House together run the biggest ponzi scheme in the world.

biggest Ponzi scheme LOL IRS, SS, Local Property tax to name a few are much larger then this guy. He must have forgot to pay off the the big boys to keep it going.

Life in the USA: Crooks in Wall Street? Incompetent Congress? Greedy CEOs? Corruption in Government? No can't be. Hello -- Is there anyone out there who is in charge that is honest and accountable?

Please explain to me how is it possible for a person who has stolen $50 Billion Dollars can bail out of jail? The money he used for bail does it not belong to the people and financial instituions that lost billions. After all wasn't all of his assets aquired by ill gotten gains.

Brian Sullivan, How much is your "compensation"? How much are you paid? What are your health benifits? How about your retirement? Since the auto workers income is fair game to say is unfair then your income must be made known also. Thats what I thought,.... I don't hear a peep.

I wrote a little piece today called "Time to Bring Water Boarding to Wall Street?". I thought you might get a laugh out of it. It goes a little something like this: The SIPC has said they're going to liquidate Bernie Madoff's brokerage firm in an effort to recover some of his customer's money. It's time to get tough. If we want to find all of the money likely hidden in offshore accounts, it may be time to bring water boarding to Wall Street, starting with Bernard Madoff. On that note, I'd bet that many of those opposed to using such techniques on terrorists would suddenly experience a change of opinion on the practice. www.MikeDitkaForSenate.com

I keep hearing less government from the republicans, but given the white collar crime I would like to suggest more regulation. Our elected officials tout their ability to get criminals off the street because they increase the penalties for possession of narcotics, etc. This year I will be voted on the ones that brag about stiffer penalties on publically owned companies,etc.

So you want to put the foxes in charge of the hen house? If we are going to regulate, then we need to start with the government.

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