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Madoff’s Amazing Disgrace

AP / Louis Lanzano

Madoff appeared eager to discuss his Ponzi scheme, apparently in an effort to shield his wife, Ruth.

Despite several occasions when he thought he had been nailed by the SEC, Bernard Madoff continued with his Ponzi scheme, revealing in his first jailhouse interview that he was “amazed” that he got away with it for so long. Madoff spoke to lawyers about his financial larceny Tuesday, during which he was called both candid and an “absolute gentleman.”

The Guardian:

Bernard Madoff has admitted that he cannot believe he got away with his $65bn (£38bn) fraud for so long, in his first interview since being jailed.

The disgraced financier chose to lift the lid on his crimes to lawyers who represent victims of his Ponzi scheme. According to San Francisco attorney Joseph Cotchett, Madoff was “very candid” and an “absolute gentleman” during their four-and-a-half hour meeting on Tuesday.

Cotchett said that Madoff “answered every single question and shed a lot of extraordinary details on exactly how he was able to get away with the scam”.

Madoff also admitted that “there were several times that I met with the SEC and thought ‘they got me’ ”.

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By Sepharad, July 29 at 7:08 pm #

Folktruther, Amazingly, I had some experience with Joe Cotchett, in the years of covering the state bar board of governors meetings as a reporter. I have no trouble believing he was able to 1)get Madoff to be completely candid with him and behave like a complete gentleman—this, to a lawyer that was about to go after his family—and then, 2) after his apparently successful interview with the felon (it takes a wolf to cajole a wolf) casually announce to some reporter that Madoff cared about his wife but didn’t give a damn about his sons. (I don’t give a fig for Madoff’s feelings, but don’t think it was necessary for Cotchett to gratuitously hurt Madoff’s sons, who may not have known what their wily old man was up to.)

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By Folktruther, July 29 at 2:13 pm #

What? He “chose to lift the lid” and tell the truth to the lawyer who is going to sue his family? Give me a break. He has obviously been protected by Cox, the head of the SEC, and Wall Street during his career, and is being protected now for some reason.

Why? and by who? For what reasons? Inquiring minds want to know.

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By msgmi, July 29 at 11:50 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

The SEC once had a few teeth and eventually became a toothless tiger of enforcement. It became a stepping stone for the lawyers to get lucrative jobs with Wall Street. A conflict of interest which was never addressed during Christopher COX’s helm as the enabler of hubris on Wall Street. Indeed, Cox was as incompetent as Brown was with FEMA.

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