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Today is the first anniversary of Bernie Madoff’s scam of the century which defrauded investors out of tens of billions. The former fund manager and head of NASDAQ who ran the world’s largest ever financial fraud seems to be a hit in prison though.
See videos below.

Update:  these two articles touch on the same themes.

Bernie Madoff, [...]

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Via CNBC:
Bernie Madoff, the man who orchestrated the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, is heard on tape in 2005 talking to executives at Fairfield Greenwich about how to get around the SEC. Ron Geffner, a former SEC enforcement attorney, discusses the tape with CNBC’s Scott Cohn.

Self-regulation in action.  Note that this tape was uncovered due [...]

The Wall Street Journal video gives the scoop.

He as remanded to prison immediately. Now he awaits sentencing.

Harry Markopolos is a fraud examiner who once worked as a fund manager. He knows fraud when he sees it and he saw it as plain as day with Bernard Madoff, who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history. In fact, he tipped off the regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission multiple times, dating back to 2000. The response? Nothing. The S.E.C. was asleep at the wheel, demonstrating yet again that the deregulatory mindset in Washington allowed the financial services industry to create all kinds of mischief.

This comes from Chapter VIII of Galbraith’s classic volume, “The Great Crash 1929.” Given the recent announcement of fraud at Satyam in India and the monstrous Madoff scandal, it is a quote and concept to remember.

This is a very sad tale.

On a recent Bloomberg Radio with Tom Keene broadcast, Harvey Pitt and Arthur Levitt, two former SEC Chairman were guests. Levitt made the suggestion that hedge funds had once been given the choice of “regulation-light” or “regulation-heavy.” Now, in the wake of the Madoff scandal, “regulation-heavy” is all but assured. But, isn’t this just?