Bernard Madoff Receives a 150-Year Sentence
On the same day Ruth Madoff broke her long public silence and released a statement through her attorney, (see page 2) her husband Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said he needed to send a
message to potential imitators and to the victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme by giving the defendent the maximum sentence. According to the 71-year-old defendant, Madoff lives "in a tormented state now, knowing all the pain and suffering I've created."
Unfortunately that means very little to the victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme who probably wonder how much he suffered as he was spending their retirements. Madoff's lawyer requested leniency but Chin rejected the request saying he did not think the victims of the Ponzi scheme were seeking mob vengeance. Chin said, "Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraoridinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll." According to the judge the $13 billion that Madoff cost his victims was a conservative estimate because it did not take into account money that came from feeder funds.
According to reports Madoff showed no reaction in court when the sentence was announced. And despite his supposed "tormented state" he showed absolutely no reaction during the hearing while he listened to nine victims spend close to an hour describing the suffering that they have gone through as a result of trusting Madoff with their retirements.
According to Carla Hirshhord one of the victims, "Life has been a living hell. t feels like the nightmare we can't wake from." According to another victim Tom Fitzmaurice, "He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values. He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife Ruth could live a life of luxury beyond belief."
At one point the judge asked Madoff if he had anything to say. Bernard Madoff stood up slowly, leaned forward on the defense table and spoke for about 10 minutes in a monotone voice. When speaking of his fraud he referred to it as a "problem," "an error of judgement" and "a tragic mistake." He also claimed that he and his wife were tormented and even claimed that his wife Ruth "cries herself to sleep every night, knowing all the pain and suffering I have caused." He then turned and faced the victims lining the first row of the gallery for the first time and said to them, "I will turn and face you. I'm sorry. I know that doesn't help you."
Part of Madoff's sentence includes selling off a $7 million Manhattan apartment where his wife Ruth still lives, an $11 million estate in Palm Beach, Florida, a $4 million dollar home on Long Island and a $2.2 million boat. In March Madoff pleaded guilty to securites fraud and other charges. He claims that he acted alone and said that he was "deeply sorry and ashamed." An accountant has been accused of cooking Madoff's books but other than that no one else has been charged.
The investigation found that Madoff never invested any of his client's money. Instead he used new investor's money to pay old investors, and to pay for his lavish lifestyle.
|
 | Ruth Madoff Breaks Silence
|
Ever since Bernard Madoff made headline news for his massive Ponzi scheme his wife Ruth has managed to stay out of the spotlight. However, many have seen her silence as a sign of guilt and in some cases even indifference. Because of this Ruth Madoff has finally chose to break her silence. Here is a statement released Monday through her attorney Peter A Chavkin of the firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Blovsky and Popeo, P.C.
"I am breaking my silence now, because my reluctance to speak has been interpreted as indifference or lack of sympathy for the victims of my husband Bernie's crime, which is exactly the opposite of the truth.
From the moment I learned from my husband that he had committed an enormous fraud, I have had two thoughts - first, that so many people who trusted him would be ruined financially and emotionally, and second, that my life with the man I have known for over 50 years was over.
Many of my husband's investors were my close friends and family. And in the days since December, I have read, with immense pain, the wrenching stories of people whose life savings have evaporated because of his crime.
My husband was the one we (and I include myself) respected and trusted with our lives and our livelihoods,
often for many, many years, and who was respected in the securities industry as well. Then there is the other man who stunned us all with his confession and is responsible for this terrible situation in which so many now find themselves.
Lives have been upended and futures have been taken away. All those touched by this fraud feel betrayed; disbelieving the nightmare they woke to. I am embarrassed and ashamed.
Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused. The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years.
In the end, to say that I feel devastated for the many whom my husband has destroyed is truly inadequate. Nothing I can say seems sufficient regarding the daily suffering that all those innocent people are enduring because of my husband.
But if it matters to them at all, please know that not a day goes by when I don't ache over the stories that I have heard and read." |
| Unemployment |
In May unemployment rates rose in all major U.S. metropolitan areas for the fifth straight month. When compared to the same time last year the Labor Department said jobless rates in May rose in all 372 metropolitan areas it tracks. In Kokomo, Indiana unemployment is a ridiculous 18.8 percent, up 11.7 percent from a year ago and also the largest increase of all metro areas. Other areas hit hard are Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana at 17.5 percent, Bend, Oregon at 15.2 percent and Yuma, Arizona at 23.3 percent. El Centro, California has the highest unemployment in the country at a staggering 26.8 percent. Many regions that have been hit hard is due to the loss of manufacturing jobs.
|
|
