Thar she blows!!!!!!!!!

[Joanne98]

Within a day of the Dec. 11 arrest of Wall Street financier Bernard L. Madoff, his Washington lobbyists were scrambling to sever all ties to a man who’s been accused of a $50 billion fraud and who may go down in history as the largest financial scam artist ever.

The lobbying firm Dow Lohnes Government Strategies filed paperwork on Dec. 12, terminating its lobbying contract with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. That ended more than 10 years of Madoff lobbying in Washington, in which his investment firm spent more than $400,000 to influence the federal government.

But lobbying is just a piece of Madoff’s influence in Washington. His family has contributed nearly $400,000 to political committees. And his niece, Shana Madoff Swanson, who serves as a compliance attorney at his firm, is married to a former high-ranking Securities and Exchange Commission official, Eric Swanson.

Swanson was the assistant director in the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ market oversight unit in Washington. According to his biography, Swanson “supervised and conducted inspections and examinations that involved a wide range of issues including best execution, order handling, insider trading market manipulation.”

The SEC has come under criticism for not following up on tips that Madoff’s investment returns seemed suspicious. Mr. Swanson left the SEC in 2006. He married Madoff’s niece the next year. He now works at a firm called BATS Exchange, which describes itself as “the third-largest stock exchange” in the United States, behind the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

Continued>>>
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16608.html

Do you even believe this shit. I swear to Gawd I must be having a nightmare! I either need to wake up or go to sleep.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. It is difficult to believe that this scam could have been ongoing for decades

without anyone in authority checking into what was happening.
I read that there WERE complaints, but that they were never really followed up or thoroughly investigated.

A lot of good people and charitable foundations were duped by this man. He is 70 years old, and if he spends the rest of his life in jail, what that do to help those that have been wiped out by this scam?

There needs to be some investigation into those that were complicit, even if only by turning a blind eye to what was going on. They must be prosecuted as well.

$50 billion dollars! Entire lifetimes of savings have been depleted.

[groovedaddy]

3. The kind of shit Alan Greenspan firmly believed "could never happen!"

What an idiot this expert turned out to be!

[BrklynLiberal]

8. So much for experts in the financial arena. It seems that very few of them

knew what was going on, or did not care about the potential dangers.

There were those who were sounding alarms, but they were ignored in the euphoria of all the money that was being made.

[NorCalDem]

18. Our first mistake was believing Greenspan to be an "expert"

to begin with. Economics are not hard, two courses in college can just about teach anyone everything they would ever need to know to analyze our economy and figure out it's problems. Economics only becomes difficult when clever people start inventing ways to make it more complicated, and they only do so to obscure whats really happening. ANYBODY should have been able to look at the fundamentals of our economy and noticed "hey, this is a service based economy, and we don't make anything anymore. What's going to happen when our money runs out? Pushing paper produces NOTHING of value, so why are you treating it like an 'industry'?, etc, etc" This is common sense kind of stuff.

I have a PhD in chemical engineering, and work with silicon technology. I can explain to middle school kids (in layman's terms at least) the fundamentals of solid state physics, quantum mechanics, and how the transistor works? Therefore, when I listen to economic "experts" and I can't figure out what they're talking about, that should be a good indication that they're spewing nothing but bullshit!

[BrklynLiberal]

20. Have you heard the saying, "If you can't dazzle 'em with your brilliance,

Blind 'em with your bullshit!"
Obviously that is what Greenspan has been doing for a long, long time.
No one wanted to appear stupid and say they did not understand what he was talking about, so he got away with it.
Greenspan was a legend in his own mind.

[NorCalDem]

21. I'll have to remember that saying :) It's very appropriate

But seriously, when I listen to "economic experts" on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, etc. I get the distinct impression they're just feeding the public complete BS, whatever we want to hear.

It's like the largest Ponzi scheme ever concocted, it's simply amazing in its scope...

[BrklynLiberal]

22. APonzi scheme is EXACTLY what is...crossed with a version of "The

Emperor's New Clothes". No one has the courage to ask questions or tell the truth out loud for fear of looking stupid.

[NorCalDem]

25. QFT n/t

[Karenina]

23. I doubt it. Madoff just gave it up.

The bright shiny object of his demise likely gives cover to equal or larger schemes that are now scrambling through their computers to cover their tracks. I was amused by the press releases from myriad firms declaring their lack of exposure, particularly Goldman Sachs who concurrently announced a 3B loss. Things that make ya go hmmmm...

Has Madoff swallowed hemlock yet? Must SUCK to be him. :nopity:

[NorCalDem]

24. When all is said and done

Billions upon billions of dollars will have gone "missing" (and by "missing" i mean "stolen") by those at the top. BrklynLiberal and I agree, the modern day US economy is nothing more than the largest Ponzi scheme ever concocted, and people are starting to figure it out. We are so fucked....

[BrklynLiberal]

27. Madoff ran out of new suckers with cash to pay off the old ones....

[JuniperLea]

4. There must be something rotten at the SEC...

I can't see any other way he could have gotten away with this for so long.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. Absolutely. Like the fix was in from the beginning...

[formercia]

30. He got away with it because he knew a lot of others were doing the same.

Honor among thieves. Nobody rats on anyone else. Smile, be happy.

[mulsh]

31. you mean like the SEC being underfunded since Reagan?

2 ways to get a raise get more money or less work, conversely there are a couple of ways to deregulate: void the laws or don't fund the department.

[Citizen Number 9]

34. Of course.

We shoulda known.....if they just had a bigger budget they would have been able to find the $50 billion fraudster.

Sheesh.

[Citizen Number 9]

33. That's interesting.

Do you feel that just because an agency is created and exists that it is going to be populated with some sort of special person that lives to find and stop corruption?

People are the same everywhere. Once they find that it is hard work to prove something and that, even if they do there is someone else who will work just as hard or harder to prove that they screwed up, they lose a lot of their fire.

Moreover, there is always someone who, having little or no actual knowledge themselves, is happy to make unfounded and politically-based allegations in an effort to discredit even do-gooders.

Oh yeah. People are the same everywhere. Lazy and willing to cut corners in business and lazy and unmotivated slobs in government who are just happy to not make waves and keep the check coming.

[Joanne98]

9. I don't think the money is gone, it's just somewhere else....

His investors need to pool some of what they have left, hire investigators and look for it. 50 billion dollars doesn't just disappear. It has to be somewhere.

[stillcool]

11. it went somewhere...

it's amazing how much money some people can 'lose'.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. It would be great if it were all hidden away somewhere. Then it could be recouped.

However, that is not how ponzi schemes work. I think the reason it all fell apart is that there was no more money left to keep playing with.

Bernard Madoff, who has been charged with fraud, allegedly told staff his investment firm was "basically a giant Ponzi scheme" - but how does this particular type of swindle work?

According to US financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ponzi schemes are a kind of pyramid scheme which operate on ``the `rob Peter to pay Paul' principle".

With the promise of large returns as bait, the fraudster takes in money from new investors and uses it to pay off the earlier investors until no more new recruits can be found and the whole scheme collapses, with the newest investors losing everything.

The ruse is named after Charles Ponzi, a 1920s crook who promised investors in New England a 40pc return on their investment in just 90 days, compared with 5pc in a savings account. Ponzi had planned to make money by taking advantage of the difference in exchange rates between the dollar and other currencies to buy and sell international mail coupons at a profit. His scheme was an amazing success, and during one three-hour period in 1921, he took in $1m (£670,000). But when the house of cards inevitably collapsed, it turned out he had only ever purchased about $30 worth of the mail coupons on which the scheme was based.

In Madoff's case, the FBI's complaint alleges he told their agents he had been paying investors "with money that wasn't there". Regulatory filings show he managed money for hedge funds, banks and wealthy individuals.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/bernard-madoff/3775923/Bernard-Madoff-What-is-a-Ponzi-scheme-and-how-does-it-work.html

[Warpy]

26. In a Ponzi scheme, what comes in

from new investors goes out to pay the old investors those unrealistic yearly profits they were led to expect. The old investors usually get everything back in returns while the new investors get left holding the empty bag.

Ponzi schemes break down when there aren't enough new investors coming in to pay all the old investors their returns.

[BrklynLiberal]

28. I believe that is exactly what happened. Madoff ran out of new suckers.

[JuniperLea]

2. Scattering like the cockroaches they are...

I'm sure this guy will be behind bars soon, because you see he ripped off a lot of wealthy people. Those who ripped off us commoners will live in freedom forever no doubt.

[TomInTib]

5. They're all in bed together.

HenHouse, meet Fox.

[Renew Deal]

7. I just checked. He gave a ton of money to Democrats. $100K to DSCC!

Oh boy...

MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 SELF EMPLOYED/INVESTOR 4/24/08 $2,300 Merkley, Jeff (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENTS 3/25/03 $2,000 Wyden, Ron (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENTS 3/25/03 $2,000 Wyden, Ron (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURIT 12/20/99 $2,000 Securities Industry Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURIT 12/20/99 $2,000 Securities Industry Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURIT 11/3/00 $2,000 Securities Industry Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 MADOFF SECURITIES 8/24/99 $1,000 Corzine, Jon S (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 CHAIRMAN 1/13/00 $1,000 Clinton, Hillary Rodham (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INC 11/28/95 $1,000 Wyden, Ron (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 HOUSEWIFE 6/16/94 $1,000 Fields, Jack M Jr (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 5/21/96 $1,000 Ackerman, Gary L (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 HOUSEWIFE 6/22/94 $1,000 Fields, Jack M Jr (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 MADOFF INVESTMENT 6/22/94 $1,000 Fields, Jack M Jr (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENTS 2/18/04 $1,000 Lautenberg, Frank R (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 12/4/95 $500 Dodd, Christopher J (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NY,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVEST SECUR 1/17/96 $500 Oxley, Michael G (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BOND BROKER 8/4/98 $500 Crowley, Joseph (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURIT 3/31/98 $300 Schumer, Charles E (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 SELF-EMPLOYED/BANKER 10/15/04 $250 Hooley, Darlene (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 MADOFF INVESTMENTS/CHAIRMAN 10/18/04 $250 Matheson, Jim (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 8/26/98 $-500 Crowley, Joseph (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD
NEW YORK,NY 10022 6/20/94 $-1,000 Fields, Jack M Jr (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF INVEST SEC 5/9/05 $25,000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVEST. SEC./CHAI 9/30/06 $25,000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVEST.-SEC./CHAI 5/4/07 $25,000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVEST.-SEC./CHAI 9/12/08 $25,000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMT SECURITIE 4/11/94 $5,000 Securities Industry Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENT 7/20/07 $2,300 Lautenberg, Frank R (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVESTMENT/CHAIRM 7/10/07 $2,300 Saul, Andrew Marshall (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF/CHAIRMAN 9/23/03 $2,000 Gephardt, Richard A (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 MADOFF INVESTMENTS/CHAIRMAN 6/17/04 $2,000 Markey, Edward J (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 MADOFF INVESTMENTS/CHAIRMAN 6/17/04 $2,000 Markey, Edward J (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 SECURITIES 6/16/94 $2,000 Fields, Jack M Jr (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
WASHINGTON,DC 20005 SECURITIES 12/17/93 $1,000 Fields, Jack M Jr (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 SECURITIES 4/28/95 $1,000 Fields, Jack M Jr (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF PC 10/23/98 $1,000 Rangel, Charles B (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INC 3/10/00 $1,000 Obey, David R (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENT SEC 4/20/00 $1,000 Fossella, Vito (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 SELF-EMPLOYED 9/21/98 $1,000 D'Amato, Alfonse M (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURIT 5/22/98 $1,000 Schumer, Charles E (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 MADOFF INVESTMENTS 5/15/98 $1,000 Markey, Edward J (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10023 MADOFF SECURITIES 6/29/94 $1,000 Markey, Edward J (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 MADOFF SECURITIES 8/4/96 $1,000 Markey, Edward J (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF CO 9/17/96 $1,000 Frisa, Daniel (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVEST SECURITIES 11/8/93 $1,000 Dingell, John D (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT 5/5/98 $1,000 Tauzin, W J "Billy" (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURIT 10/30/98 $1,000 Victory in New York
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENTS 8/18/04 $1,000 Schumer, Charles E (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENTS 8/18/04 $1,000 Schumer, Charles E (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENTS 4/8/02 $1,000 Schumer, Charles E (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENTS 4/8/02 $1,000 Schumer, Charles E (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L. MADOFF P.C./CHAIRMAN 8/30/01 $1,000 Rangel, Charles B (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 BERNARD L MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURIT 5/22/98 $700 Schumer, Charles E (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10022 SECURITIES INVESTMENTS 5/18/93 $400 Gillmor, Paul E (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENT 7/20/07 $300 Lautenberg, Frank R (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 10/15/04 $250 Frost, Martin (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10/13/94 $200 Ackerman, Gary (D)
MADOFF, BERNARD L
NEW YORK,NY 10021 12/5/07 $-2,300 Saul, Andrew Marshall (R)
MADOFF, BERNARD L MR
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURI 5/24/07 $5,000 Securities Industry & Financial Mkt Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD L MR
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURI 8/20/08 $5,000 Securities Industry & Financial Mkt Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD L MR
NEW YORK,NY 10021 MADOFF (BERNARD L.) INVESTMENT SECU 7/8/04 $5,000 Securities Industry Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD L MR
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURI 10/17/06 $5,000 Securities Industry Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD L MR
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD L. MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURI 9/22/05 $5,000 Securities Industry Assn
MADOFF, BERNARD MR
NEW YORK,NY 10021 BERNARD MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURITIE 4/26/99 $1,000 Bradley, Bill (D)

[Joanne98]

12. I know. I posted this the other day. We're sooo fucked!

[BrklynLiberal]

13. I would guess that at least some of those contributions helped him

to avoid the trouble he is in now. They were helpful in getting certain people to look the other way when suspicions were aroused.

It is sort of ironic. His actions were those of a typical repuke, and here he is, a Democratic donator.

[Renew Deal]

14. I hope that you're wrong.

More than you know.

[Joanne98]

17. I thought he was a puke too. That's why I looked.

[Renew Deal]

19. So frustrating

I do not want these people associated with Democrats. :banghead:

[Dennis Donovan]

10. The SEC under Bush became part of the criminal enterprise...

Starting with his appointment of Harvey Pitt, it became a joke.

[nebenaube]

29. uh... wasn't Harvey Pitt a villian in the original Batman Comic strip? n/t

[sarcasmo]

32. Bingo!

I fear this won't be the last scam.

[Joanne98]

15. Bernie Madoff's niece's husband Eric Swanson was TA DA!!!!!!!

Swanson was the assistant director in the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ market oversight unit in Washington.

You can't make this shit up. I just want to know. Who in the Hell was the director?????

He didn't marry her until AFTER he left the SEC but still... It stinks to high Hell!

[SlowDownFast]

35. SEC is complicit.

There are no cops. They're bought and paid for.