Bernie Madoff's sentence of 150 years (read: life) in prison may satisfy his victims' psychological need for revenge but it certainly won't get them their savings back.According to prosecutors, Mr. Madoff swindled his investors out of some $170 billion over the course of the Ponzi scheme. In December, Madoff's books indicated a total of $65 billion was currently "invested."
Mr. Irving Picard, the trustee charged with winding down Mr. Madoff's affairs has thus far only been able to collect $1.2 billion to return to his victims.
Now, don't get me wrong, some sanction is required in this case. I just don't know if burying Mr. Madoff beneath the jail is it. With today's sentencing, the same folks whose "investments" paid for Mr. Madoff's lavish lifestyle will once again be paying to house him in prison.
3 comments:
I see the irony in this as well, and posted today about how Madoff's prison sentence basically guarantees him a safety net -- free food, shelter, and medical care until the day he dies. You can find it here http://feistygeek.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-to-make-of-madoff.html
Let me know what you think.
Thanks for the comment. I'll check it out.
I think a much more appropriate sentence would be for him to perform 8 hours of community service a day for the next 12 years.
Very interesting article Kennedy. Keep writing.
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