Bernard Froff: The Case Of The Bernard Madoff Case

The Bernard Madoff case is a great example of how a person will continue to commit a fraudulent act until they are caught. It is also a story that will forever be told and used as a learning guide for investors and others within the financial industry. The term “Ponzi scheme” is one that is often heard in the world of finance. It comes from the fraudulent act committed by Charles Ponzi in the early 20th century. ( Ferrell, 2009) Charles Ponzi is believed to have been the first to successfully pull off such a scandal. Some would say that while Charles Ponzi created it, Bernard Madoff nearly perfected it. Bernard Madoff is accused of creating the “Ponzi scheme that destroyed $65 billion in investments”. (Ferrell, 2009) The question of how …show more content…
I do not feel that he employed it as a short term strategy and got caught up in a process that he could not reverse. In fact he has been quoted as saying that “he knew this day would come”. (Ferrell, 2009) Madoff was well aware of what he was doing and created his business with the intention of scheming and profiting financially from those that he was able to get over on. Now the fact that he was as good at it as he ended up being may have come as a slight surprise, but it was pure greed that led him to create the business and keep it going for so many …show more content…
One of those elements was the human trait that allows people to trust. Madoff found a way to gain the trust of all of his investors. Some of the ways that he gained their trust was by using others as the face of his dealings. Such was the case when he enlisted the help of Michael Bienes. Bienes was under the impression that what he was doing was not wrong and was even told by Madoff that it was ok. According to Bienes, he had doubts and mentioned them to Madoff in meetings. Madoff replied that he had discussed their actions with lawyers who advised him that what they were doing was ok. (Gaviria & Smith, 2009) So Beines and those who he was working with just continued to blindly follow Madoff. This was perhaps his strongest element. The ability to have people follow him without question. Another element that Madoff used was his extensive knowledge of how the financial world worked and the rules and regulations of the SEC. He knew that “a major flaw on Wall Street is exempting hedge funds from being registered if they contain less than $100 million, and he didn’t register with the SEC until 2006”. (Patel, 2013) Madoff was also able to use the element of secrecy. He advised his associates to not mention his name in any publications or dealings. Surprisingly enough they abided by this requirement without