Former NASDAQ Chairman charged with securities fraud

[anigbrowl]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/11/markets/madoff_fraud/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff was arrested Thursday and charged with a single count of securities fraud for allegedly operating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme from his investment advisory business, federal authorities said.

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A document filed by Madoff with the Securities and Exchange Commission early this year said the advisory business served between 11 and 25 clients and had about $17.1 billion in assets, the complaint said. But on Wednesday, the complaint said, Madoff told senior employees that the advisory business was a fraud, that he was "finished," had "absolutely nothing," that "it's all just one big lie" and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme."

Madoff said the business had lost about $50 billion and that he planned to turn himself in to authorities in a week. But, the complaint said, he told the employees he wanted to distribute the $200 million to $300 million he had left to certain selected employees, family and friends.



W. T. F. !

[sandnsea]

1. I saw that earlier

It was reported in the UK. I didn't post it because it seemed too unbelievable. The billions of dollars these assholes have gotten, while the workers have conceded everything, they stuck into ponzi schemes and crashed our economy. It's infuriating. But most people will never admit the connection.

[JackRiddler]

2. Let's face it, this is who they are...

In late capitalism with its tendency to cannibalism and crash, you won't find anyone at the top of the major financial institutions who isn't ruthless, corrupt and sociopathic. That's who's going to make it there. Anyone who is not like that, is not going to be in that position. Grasso, Paulson, Greenspan, the Enron guys who plundered everything they could and helped place Bush, all of the big banks who covered for the likes of Enron and then made up these ridiculous casino mortgage instruments, for that matter Clinton and Rubin alongside Gramm (when it came to deregulating and thus allowing any level of corruption that the market - the suckers - would bear). These are the guys at the top. You think the other executive positions are going to be any different? This is the entire financial elite. This is who they are.

[JackRiddler]

3. kick