

Bernie Madoff, Free at Last - mahipal
http://nymag.com/news/crimelaw/66468/

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yurisagalov
Pretty well written story - I was fairly captivated, and I don't even care
about him all that much.

I'm curious whether this prison system does in fact have better rehabilitation
success than regular prison systems. It does sound like the inmates are more
well adjusted, and although the article initially describes them as "soft",
mob hit men as well as some gruesome murderers and child molesters definitely
make that list.

~~~
rbanffy
Madoff fits the model of a sociopath. They are considered incurable. If he is
ever released, he will most probably do it again.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Agreed. I don't think he even had a twinge when he went over the line - making
up trades to cover a loss. Didn't even perceive it as a decision to be made,
it just needed to be done.

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motters
There's a kind of kudos in having been able to fool so many apparently savvy
investors for so long, I guess. Most people of this type - which includes some
very successful non-criminals too - seem to have the characteristic of being
completely unconcerned about the victims (or "customers"), instead just seeing
what they were doing as a demand and supply issue.

~~~
hga
Well ... the really savvy ones knew he was running a scam, they just thought
he was using profits from front running
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_running>) in his other business to even
out the returns of the fund. They didn't think he was so much a crook that it
was instead all a Ponzi scheme.

~~~
rbanffy
> Well ... the really savvy ones knew he was running a scam,

When you knowingly invest in a Ponzi scheme (or something like it) you are
enabling it and you should be considered an accomplice.

It would be hard do prove in a criminal case, but there should be regulations
to prevent the investors who should know better and who got handsome returns
for enabling him to enable other similar schemes in the future.

~~~
hga
Then you'll be happy to know that those who received (bogus) returns from the
fund are subject to clawbacks, since the money they received wasn't really
from a return on their investment but was stolen from other investors.

You ... scheme would be hard to justify given that the SEC received so many
detailed reports that Madoff was doing something impossible and just blew them
off.

~~~
anamax
> the SEC received so many detailed reports that Madoff was doing something
> impossible and just blew them off.

Regulators should have "skin in the game".

Heck - politicians too. But, Barney "Fannie and Freddie are sound" Frank will
be re-elected.

~~~
hga
Maybe, but I can't think of any way to make that work.

A lot of politicians have been and will be losing their seats for following
the lead of Barney "let's roll the dice" Frank. He's in a well gerrymandered
seat (in the state that invented the process!) so he's likely to stay
indefinitely, but who knows if the economy gets bad enough (e.g.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1410594>). One big factor here is that
the whole situation has been thrown in flux with Ted Kennedy's death. He was
the big "bring home the bacon" guy, there's no one last time I checked who's
stepping into that role. E.g. Kerry doesn't have what it takes.

~~~
anamax
> Maybe, but I can't think of any way to make that work.

Neither can I. If the good people of Mass want to keep electing him, there's
not much that the rest of us can do.

> "bring home the bacon" guy

Supposedly pork actually kills jobs in the recipient's district.

[http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Harvard-study-
show...](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Harvard-study-shows-
earmarks-cost-jobs-95637114.html)

Another approach, which won't ever happen because of the social dynamics, is
for his fellow legislators to punish his district. The theory being "we can't
make you elect someone else, but we can make you wish that you had". However,
legislators don't work that way.

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ssn
Great photo illustrations.

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JoeAltmaier
Makes you wonder, how many more Madoffs are out there? Right now, with your
money.

~~~
arethuza
Don't most governments behave like Ponzi schemes?

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zackattack
Unnecessarily long. He gets fellow inmates' respect, and he doesn't appear to
be having a hard time with doing his hard time.

~~~
maukdaddy
It's from a magazine. You know...those things that existed before blogs, where
the author did real research, actually interviewed people, checked facts,
ensured accuracy, etc.

I'd much rather read 6 pages of well-written, fact checked magazine than some
shitty blog entry that someone spent 5 minutes on just to drive up traffic
numbers.

