Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme

Could you imagine stealing billions of dollars? Well, for Bernard Madoff this was no imagination. Bernie was an exceedingly admired stockbroker on wall street hence, no one questioned his doings. Being that he was of such high authority and acting nonchalant his scheme lasted numerous years. Bernie Madoff grew up in an unpredictable household with his parents. Bernie 's parents had a large role on his life and this is the reasoning behind why he did much of what he did. His parents were not the most truthful of people. (Oppenheimer pg. 1) When Bernie first began investing he started off with smaller businesses just to get an understanding of how the industry worked. He also began investing in smaller business with the hope that the business …show more content…
Under secrecy he had told his two sons that he had been involved in a ponzi scheme for years. Andrew and Mark told authority which is what led their father to be put in prison and be convicted of fraud. Bernie was sentenced to one hundred and fifty years. (Stempel pg. 1) Andrew and Mark had no prior knowledge of any of their father 's wrongdoings. On March 12, 2009 under oath Bernard Madoff admitted to turning his business into a ponzi scheme.(Henriques pg. 1)
In a ponzi scheme one would manipulate a person into staying in the business and be convinced that their money would increase over time. However, being that it is a ponzi scheme the money really goes to the person who is behind the entire scheme. Before, public knowledge of the ponzi scheme Bernie was one of the most wanted business men because of his reviews with being the best with holding onto money. Bernie would steal money from anyone, it did not matter whether you were rich or poor, as long as he would receive money he would not complain. The ponzi scheme lasted so many years because Bernie had just the right information that made it possible for him to get away with the