Madoff Scam Revisited
To paraphrase Oscar Levant, when it comes to Bernard Madoff,
“the line between genius and insanity has been erased.”The value of discovered assets owned by Bernard Madoff reached one billion dollars. (www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510281,00.html). A $75 million dollar account found in Gibraltar has pushed the total to this dubious milestone. A billion is a number that used to command attention, but with the total cost of his Ponzi scheme estimated at anywhere from twenty to sixty billion, it barely raises an eyebrow.
Madoff is a fascinating story, and shows no signs of becoming less so. The questions about how he did what he did are only partially legal questions. There is a sense of awe inherent in the inquisitiveness of the average person. How did he do it? People want details. Gory details, minuscule antidotal details. Anything. Americans have always had a soft spot for the criminal mind. John Dillinger was a hero during the Great Depression as he stole and murdered his way through rural America. More people today know his name than any other figure of the 1930’s with the possible exception of Franklin Roosevelt. “The Godfather” is the favorite film of more American men than any movie in the past hundred years, and only a few were rooting against the Marlon Brando lead character. People will flock to a movie about a great scam. Leonardo DeCaprio’s “Catch Me if You Can” is the most recent film that comes to mind, but there is no shortage. Will there be movies based on Madoff’s life, both fictional and bio-pics? I’m certain they’re already begun. If it is possible to get enough of this story, than certainly we are nowhere near that point.
In this case, the interest in the scam itself is enhanced by the innate curiosity about the wealthy. What you have here is a perfect storm of a scam and a peek into the private lives of the rich- a lethal American combination. And I don’t just mean Madoff’s life. His yachts and various homes around the globe are interesting, but not more interesting than the peek into the lives of his victims. Surely I am not the only one who read the e-mails entered as evidence in Madoff’s trial by some of his victims (as well as others who just wanted their opinions registered.) It is a train wreck. Each one elicits sympathy as we trip over ourselves to read the next. Captivating and mesmerizing. Bubble gum for the eyes and ears. And for the fans of this sort of thing, rest assured, the end is nowhere in sight.
By Myron Gushlak