Courtesy AP
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How many years will he get?
Saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed,” Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history and was immediately led off to jail in handcuffs after his seething victims applauded in the courtroom.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin denied bail for Madoff, 70, and ordered him to jail, noting that he had the means to flee and an incentive to do so because of his age.
“I am actually grateful for this opportunity to publicly comment about my crimes, for which I am deeply sorry and ashamed,” he said.
“As the years went by, I realized my risk and this day would inevitably come. I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for my crimes.”
“I don’t think he has a sincere bone in his body,” said DeWitt [Baker], who noted that prison time would be too good for Madoff. “I’d stone him to death,” he said.
Madoff did not look at any of the three investors who spoke at the hearing, even when one turned in his direction and tried to address him.
The fraud, which prosecutors say may have totaled nearly $65 billion, turned a revered money man into an overnight global disgrace whose name became synonymous with the current economic meltdown.
$65 billion? Chump change when compared with the Obama bailout that may have been partially a result of this.
#64, LibertyPoser,
Government is NOT the only group that is capable of auditing or oversight. They are the only group that I do have any control over though because they answer to my representative who answers to me. Private groups don’t answer to anyone except their customers.
Government oversight and inspections are not perfect. They are better than nothing though. That there have been failures over the past eight years has more to do with the philosophical bent of the Presidential Administration than the actual regulations themselves. In several cases we have discovered regulators and inspectors being stopped or severely hampered by the heads of their agencies even when they reported problems.
You are right that maybe more regulation isn’t required. Better observance of the current regulations is required. If the regulations can be streamlined without hindering the intent, then great, let’s do it.