Capitalism's finest hour
HK wrote:
Bernard Madoff arrested over alleged $50 billion fraud
Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:40am EST
By Edith Honan and Dan Wilchins
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff, a quiet force on Wall Street for
decades, was arrested and charged on Thursday with allegedly running a
$50 billion "Ponzi scheme" in what may rank among the biggest fraud
cases ever.
The former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market is best known as the
founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the closely-held
market-making firm he launched in 1960. But he also ran a hedge fund
that U.S. prosecutors said racked up $50 billion of fraudulent losses.
Madoff told senior employees of his firm on Wednesday that "it's all
just one big lie" and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme,"
with estimated investor losses of about $50 billion, according to the
U.S. Attorney's criminal complaint against him.
A Ponzi scheme is a swindle offering unusually high returns, with early
investors paid off with money from later investors.
Isn't he a registered Democrat?
|