Bernie Madoff
Bernie Madoff masterminded the biggest investment fraud in U.S. history, ripping off tens of thousands of people of as much as $65 billion. Madoff was serving a 150-year prison sentence for his scheme, which investigators said defrauded as many as 37,000 people in 136 countries over four decades.
What is a Ponzi scheme and who is it named after?
A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new investors. Ponzi schemes are named after Charles Ponzi. In the 1920s, Ponzi promised investors a 50% return within a few months for what he claimed was an investment in international mail coupons.
Is Ponzi scheme a crime?
A Ponzi scheme is an illegal business practice in which new investor’s money is used to make payments to earlier investors. In accounting terms, money paid to Ponzi investors, described as income, is actually a distribution of capital.
How many Ponzi schemes have been discovered?
But Ponzi schemes are still a major investor threat. In 2016, 59 Ponzi schemes were uncovered in the U.S. with a total of $2.4 billion in losses. Since 2012, about 65 Ponzi schemes per year have been discovered. The mean scheme is worth $6 million.
What was Kareem Serageldin charged with?
conspiracy to falsify
In 2013, Kareem Serageldin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to falsify books and records of a financial institution. He was mismarking the value of securities at Credit Suisse in order to make them appear more valuable than was really the case. Judge Hellerstein sentenced him to thirty months in prison for his crime.
Why Madoff was able to continue defrauding investors for so long?
Another reason Madoff managed to fly under the radar for so long (despite multiple reports to the SEC about suspicions of a Ponzi scheme) is because Madoff was a well-versed and active member of the financial industry. He started his own market-maker firm in 1960 and helped launch the Nasdaq stock market.
