10 Things You Didn't Know About Bernard Madoff
Madoff pled guilty to charges stemming from a $65 billion fraud
1. Bernard L. Madoff was born April 29, 1938, in the Rockaways section of Queens, N.Y.
2. He graduated from Far Rockaway High School, where he met his future wife, Ruth Alpern. While in high school, Madoff was on the swim team and worked as a lifeguard.
3. Madoff spent a year at the University of Alabama and joined the Jewish fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu before transferring to Hofstra University. He graduated from Hofstra with a political science degree in 1960.
4. He briefly attended the Brooklyn Law School but left to start Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in 1960 with $5,000 he had saved from life guarding and installing and repairing sprinkler systems.
5. As his reputation grew, so did his prominence. He helped pioneer electronic trading, testified before congressional committees on financial matters, and served as chairman of the board of the Nasdaq Stock Market.
6. An avid golfer who often shot in the 80s, Madoff belonged to a number of exclusive clubs.
7. His sons, Andrew and Mark, became senior employees at his firm. The two turned their father in to federal authorities in December when his Ponzi scheme became public.
8. The fraud, which is estimated at $65 billion, may be the biggest in Wall Street history.
9. When he was charged with fraud, Madoff owned a $7 million penthouse in Manhattan, a mansion in the Hamptons, a villa on the French Riviera, and yachts in the Mediterranean, Florida, and New York. One 56-foot boat was named The Bull.
10. The 11 counts of fraud, perjury, theft, and money laundering that he plead guilty to could net Madoff 150 years at his June 16 sentencing.
Sources:
- Associated Press
- Washington Post
- New York Times
- Los Angeles Times
- New York Daily News
- New York Post
Reader Comments
Tim, we never elected Bush in 2000
The 2000 presidential election was stolen with help of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. He had the duty to see that voting machines that make chads must be cleaned out after every election, or they jam and votes are lost. We saw some of them jammed with chads. The Sec. of State failed in her duty and she corrupted the system. A few judges on the Supreme Court gave the presidency to imperfectly-educated Bush. "Jews For Jesus" is a small paperback, but I'm keeping it as a wonderful exposure of the many ways votes were stolen and the way the conspirators did it.
Free enterprise system let him do it
Americans are scared away from having anything to do with having WE THE PEOPLE own anything as public property. Except national parks, maybe. We need public ownership of all utilities and a national transport system, and national theatre, etc. It is good that he is to be stripped of most of what he unlawfully acquired. As for investing in the stock market, it is a gamble. Since the 1987 Crash, I lost over $240,000 on stocks and the IRS lets me deduct it as capitol loss at only $3000 year.
Bernie Madoff, Remembering Ken Lay.
What else is new?
Someone mentioned KEN LAY. How timely to have or perhaps create a heart attack before being indicted. I'll wager he is still alive and living on a Carabian Island. Has any one seen him after his so called heart attack? Has anyone investigated the death certificate and who signed it? Has anyone seen him in his coffin?
Has anyone been a witness to his cremation?
Americans are so gullible. He was a close personal friend of George W. Bush and a multi million dollar contributor to Bush's election. Do we really believe that old George his best buddy would have allowed his good friend to be paraded before the federal courts and accused of any crime?
WHERE ARE ALL OF THOSE CREATIVE "INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS"?
Would'nt that be a GREAT STORY?
advertisement
