Madoff’s Victims Speak Out
Some of them have only their homes, while others have no remaining assets and no means to earn income, but all of the former clients of Bernard Madoff (above) whose statements were made public by the government on Friday described in nightmarish terms their experiences since Madoff's fraudulent investment empire crumbled.
Some of them have only their homes, while others have no remaining assets and no means to earn income, but all of the former clients of Bernard Madoff (at right) whose statements were made public by the government on Friday described in nightmarish terms their experiences since Madoff’s fraudulent investment empire crumbled.
Meantime, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that the Ponzi schemer will have to stay in jail as he awaits sentencing in mid-June.
Your support matters…Bloomberg:
Some of the messages released today by prosecutors had senders’ names blacked out. Others were written by relatives on behalf of elderly or ailing victims, including an 87-year-old Alzheimer’s patient who lost her $500,000 life savings.
“That money was for her to live out the rest of her life in comfort,” a child of the Alzheimer’s patient wrote in a March 9 e-mail that had the name redacted. “She is very depressed and can’t understand why this happened to her.”
Until now, most attention has been given to celebrities, hedge funds and banks around the world that lost money in Madoff’s scam. Many of the victims revealed [Friday] cite relatively smaller losses that accounted for larger shares of wealth.
“I am not rich,” a 52-year-old self-employed woman in California wrote in a letter. “The entire amount I lost was nowhere near a million dollars, but I was proud I had saved it. I do not own a home to sell. I do not have anyone to support me in my old age.”
Many of the letters called on the government to make an extra effort to help victims.
Given the SEC’s failure, “it is certainly justice that everyone in the federal government do what he or she can to ameliorate this situation,” said Eugene Wolsk, 80, of Montauk, New York, who invested with Madoff for 21 years.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
The will signed two days before his suicide puts $577 million in assets into a trust, a roadblock to sex-abuse accusers to recover damages.
Today's central bank collusion is nothing more than a massive “trickle down” subsidy for the financial system—and promises for the masses.
Injustice hunting has become the new favorite pastime of Americans instead of addressing the problems at their roots.
The police can take your assets even if you haven't been convicted of a crime.
Three Chinese activists agitating for officials to make public the value of their wealth and assets will be put on trial in a "co-ordinated crackdown" that makes the limitations of an "anti-corruption push by the new government" plain, according to a Reuters report in The Guardian.
Bank of America: $11.9 billion; JPMorgan: $5.44 billion; Wells Fargo: $4.35 billion. These are the fines the banks have paid so far in settlements to the government for wrongdoing amid the financial crisis.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.