Bloomberg reports "Madoff Exposes Double Standard for Ponzi Schemes" by Jonathan Weil. Bernard Madoff's amazing Ponzi scheme has put him in a league of his own, for now. He shouldn’t be alone for long.
In the end, as with all the great frauds, Madoff’s undoing was that he ran out of cash. For years, he paid returns to early investors with money he raised from new investors, which is the hallmark of every Ponzi scheme.
When the economy got tough, and his customers sought about $7 billion in redemptions, Madoff didn’t have the funds. It was around this time that he confessed to running a giant scam, the authorities say. The losses, by Madoff’s estimate, might be $50 billion. Heaven knows how many clients of other money managers could meet the same fate as redemption orders pour in.
It’s no great feat to arrest a man who tells a federal agent “there is no innocent explanation” for his actions and that he expects to go to jail. The Securities and Exchange Commission blew many chances over the past decade to uncover his ruse, even after receiving detailed tips.
It’s unclear why the SEC failed to stop Madoff, whether because of corruption, a lack of smarts, a dearth of interest, or some combination. We can say with confidence, though, that many other huge frauds are still operating freely today -- and that the government might not be inclined to intervene, even when it knows all about them.
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