No One Would Listen - A Story of U.S. Government Corruption and Incompetence

Hear a discussion with two financial analysts who tried to sound the alarm about Bernie Madoff's activities but were ignored by your federal government.

Madoff often bragged about his cozy relationship with regulators... (which allowed him to do whatever he wanted). Many of the holes in the financial regulatory system still remain. And it's a symptom of a wider problem of corruption in government that Americans have not only grown to tolerate, but to expect. There was the muzzling of Brooksley Born, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who tried to warn the nation about a looming financial crisis; The FDA being corrupted and controlled by the drug companies; and even oil industry execs openly providing gifts & having sex with federal regulators from the Interior Department in exchange for less stringent oversight.

Bernie Madoff gets 150 years

From The AP:

Bernard Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison
NEW YORK — Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to the maximum 150 years in prison for his multibillion-dollar fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the sentence in New York on Monday.

Defense attorneys had sought 12 years, while prosecutors wanted the maximum. The federal probation department had recommended 50 years. Chin called the fraud "staggering" and noted that it spanned more than 20 years. He says "the breach of trust was massive."

(enlarge photo)Michael De Vita, a victim of Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme, speaks to reporters before Madoff's sentencing outside Manhattan federal court in New York, Monday, June 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The 71-year-old former Nasdaq chairman pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March and has been jailed since.

He's only a cog. I want all the rest of them that helped him pull off his scam.

Bernie Madoff ...NO, I'm NOT satisfied

I have no ' proof' for what I am about to say, except for that I wasn't born last night. I sat, watching the talking heads discuss the Madoff case, and I got madder and madder.

NO, I am not happy about how this case turned out, because it's utter bullshit.

This man is involved in a 64 BILLION DOLLAR FINANCIAL SCHEME.

And, HE is the only one going to jail?

BUMP THAT.

No one puts 64 BILLION in banks without someone knowing about it on the banking level. And, I don't mean the lonely teller. I mean middle and higher management.

No one approves of the phony stock transactions without knowing. And, I don't mean the low level entry employee.

No one continues to put the stamp of GOVERNMENTAL APPROVAL FROM THE SEC without there being accomplices in the Governmental Regulatory Agencies, and no, I don't mean the lowly G-5 entry worker.

This scam had accomplices from top to bottom in BANKING, and GOVERNMENT. Accomplices that should be in handcuffs also.

So, no, I'm not satisfied with the Madoff outcome.

Rant over.

Here's The Rude Pundit dropping wisdom:

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Madoff Ponzi Scheme: No Indication Stocks Were Ever Purchased

From HuffingtonPost.com

NEW YORK — The trustee in charge of untangling the mess brought on by the Bernard Madoff scandal told investors Friday there was no indication the disgraced money manager bought securities for his clients.

"We have no evidence to indicate securities were purchased for customer accounts," said Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff's assets.

He told a meeting for investors that he has recovered $650 million so far and noted that victims could qualify for up to $500,000 in funds from the Securities Investor Protection Corp., also known as the SIPC.

Madoff was arrested in December after investigators said he confessed to his sons that he had swindled investors of $50 billion in a Ponzi scheme. The 70-year-old former Nasdaq chairman remains confined to his Manhattan apartment under house arrest.

Picard detailed the history of the case for the group and how claims will be processed. He said his office has received 2,350 claims so far and expects the number to double. He also said the deadline for submitting claims is July 2.

At the hearing, David Sheehan, a lawyer working for Picard, called the alleged fraud "a Ponzi scheme where no stock was purchased."

Sheehan also said the SIPC will be trying to recover "false profits" earned by some investors.

"There wasn't any stock bought or sold," he said. "It was all just made up. ... You got somebody else's money."

When I first read this headline, I just froze. I stared at it for a few moments. And let it digest.

There is no indication that stocks were EVER purchased.

There is NO indication that stocks were EVER purchased.

This isn't a case of where the man had a few good years of investing, but then things turned south as he chose bad investments.

He didn't purchase anything.

He straight up STOLE that money.

How does one run a company of this magnitude without FILING PAPERS WITH THE SEC sometime or another?

How can you be an investment fund, without there being some sort of PAPER TRAIL ON FILE WITH THE GOVERNMENT SHOWING WHAT YOU'RE DOING?

Am I not getting this?

Maybe some of you can break it down for me. Because FRAUD on this major a scale isn't done by one or two jokers. There's a whole parcel of THIEVES, in business AND IN THE GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MONITORING THE INDUSTRY. Where were THE REGULATORS? Someone needs to be investigating the SEC and any other governmental agencies that have anything to do with this.

That this THIEF is out on bail is preposterous.

There are a whole lot of people who participated in this thievery and they need to be in jail too.