Bernard Madoff Case Summary

Introduction The nineties were a strange, almost fantastical time; new technology was being created, Presidents were playing the sax on television, and Bernard, informally known as Bernie, Madoff was serving as the NASDAQ chairman. Bernie climbed the economic ladder, eventually being in control of millions of investments in 2008 until it was found out that he had been the head of the largest Ponzi scheme in America. Madoff’s case is not only important to the how expansive it was, but how Madoff managed to avoid being detected despite investigations against him starting in 1999. Furthermore, Madoff’s case stands as a prime example of how damaging white collar crime can be on both an individual and financial level. Understanding it from a white collar crime perspective can prevent such a widespread scheme to occur yet again and stand as a deterrence for future offenders.
Case Study Madoff started with humble beginnings, creating his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, in 1960 from $5,000 that he had earned while working as a lifeguard. The firm’s initial employees were Madoff’s close …show more content…
Madoff himself would be considered an occupational white collar criminal as his position as a stockbroker allowed him to be able to commit the crime along with gain the trust of his investors. However, due to the entire company being built upon fraud, the crime would also fall into corporate crime as it was a hierarchical crime. However, this claim is a bit shaky. Most corporate crime, such as Enron, involves a multitude of aware figures acting illegally in order to benefit the company as a whole. Madoff’s children were unaware of the Ponzi scheme happening until their father confessed, and he was also the only one punished for the misdeeds. Therefore, this crime leans heavily towards occupational crime rather than corporate crime, though it does combine some elements of