...Bernie Madoff Fraud Case Bernie Madoff Fraud Case Introduction One of the largest fraud cases of all times is that of the “Bernard Madoff Case.” According to Armstrong (2008), “for a number of years Madoff managed to lure billions of dollars away from huge charities, as well as wealthy individuals in both the United States and Europe by getting them to invest in his hedge fund. This he did by offering extraordinary returns to investors, until his scheme eventually reached a staggering $50 billion under “management.” Within this paper, efforts will be made answer a number of questions, including how was this fraud executed; who were the perpetrators, accomplices and victims; how was the fraud discovered; what were some of the possible red flags; and what role did the SEC play in discovering the fraud. In addition to this, mention will be made of how the case was resolved and what are some of the measures that could have deterred or prevented the fraud from occurring in the first place. Given these harsh economic times which we live in, all efforts have to be made to enforce strict rules and regulations within financial institutions – so that investors and other stakeholders’ interests are protected. Had there been closer attention given by the Securities Exchange Commission and other regulators to the ‘red Flags’ associated with Madoff and his firm, then so many persons would not have lost billions. Bernard Madoff Investment Securities (BMIS) Founded in 1960...
Words: 2829 - Pages: 12
...The Fraud of the Century: The Case of Bernard Madoff The fraud perpetrated by Bernard Madoff which was discovered in December, 2008 is based upon a Ponzi scheme. Madoff took money from new investors to pay earnings for existing customers. The greater the payout to retiring and withdrawing customer, the more revenue or clients he would need to start and “investment relationship” with Madoff. The Ponzi scheme was named after Charles Ponzi who in the early 20th Century, saw a way to profit from international reply coupons. International reply coupons were a guarantee of return postage in response to an international letter. Charles Ponzi determined that he could make money, legally, by swapping out these coupons for more expensive postage stamps in countries where the stamps were of higher value. While making a significant profit with this system, Ponzi got the idea of enticing investors to provide him more capital to trade coupons for higher priced postage stamps. His promise to investors was a 50% profit in a few days. Touted as a financial wizard and the ‘Warren Buffet’ of his day, Ponzi lived outside Boston, he had a fairly opulent life bringing in as much as $250,000/day. Part of Ponzi’s success came from is personal charisma and ability to con even savvy investors. The promised payout was supported by the new investors anxious to take advantage of these robust returns because he appeared to create an image of power, trust, and responsibility. In July of 1920...
Words: 4307 - Pages: 18
...Case Study: Bernie Madoff Eric Ranzinger Organizational Behavior – OL 500 Jascia Redwine Abstract Bernie Madoff was one of the top dogs on Wall Street for over 20 years. He managed tens of billions of dollars in client’s funds. His firm was one of the most consistent with profitable returns. When most others were reporting losses during the recession, his firm was consistently reporting net gains. Many celebrities even entrusted their money with Madoff because he was such a reputable name on Wall Street, being the former head of NASDQ. In December of 2008, Madoff turned himself into the authorities because his operation was just a giant Ponzi Scheme. His investors were scared of losing more money in the recession so they tried to cash out. Since he had been defrauding investors for years he was not able to keep up with demand. He ended up losing a total of 17 billion dollars by providing his clients with false reports. There were many red flags dating back to the late 80’s that should have tipped the authorities. Many Wall Street executives knew that Madoffs firm was fraud and did not try to bring him to justice. This is unacceptable. His scheme should have been shut down years ago before it got this bad. There are several solutions available to assure that this type of fraud does not happen again. In my case analysis, we will dig into each option in depth. It will be clear that the best option that needs to happen is to make the SEC adhere to their responsibility...
Words: 3339 - Pages: 14
...Introduction Operated through a complex, cryptic structure Bernie Madoff, CEO of Bernie L. Madoff Investment Securities (BMIS), perpetuated the most embellished Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen. The basis of the securities fraud that took place approximately between 1991 – 2008 was influenced by Bernie Madoff’s reliance upon an unqualified staff, outdated software, organizational seclusion, a personal halo effect, and weaknesses in the regulating body. Madoff had the confidence of the public, yet to pull off such an elaborate scheme, he relied on a startling number of family members, vital accomplices working on the illegal trading floor such as Frank D. Pascali, IT staff members, and a separate BMIS branch of international employees in the U.K. to seemingly legitimize the whole thing. Domestic and European institutional investors, friends and acquaintances of Madoff’s, and an additional couple of thousand people who had exposure to BMIS funds, trusted as much as their entire life or retirement savings. Investors were dumbfounded when the jenga-like pyramid came crashing down on them, despite many caveats from whistleblowers. Leading up to December 11, 2008, the date Bernie Madoff was taken into federal custody, he acted especially cross and frantic, specifically when the SEC was mentioned. Another sign of the impending collapse was Bernie’s reluctance to accept any more large sums of money, contrast to the usually receptive Bernie (Henriques). As a result of Madoff’s...
Words: 3388 - Pages: 14
...Author’s Viewpoint In the case study about the Bernie Madoff scandal, the author makes the point that the motivation to succeed in business can present a conflict with the fiduciary duty that a business person has to the client. There is question whether Madoff was motivated solely by greed, in which case he was engaged in a simple Ponzi scheme, or whether he used the Ponzi scheme to hide his failure to generate returns for his clients. Madoff’s lack of transparency violated the trust of his clients, even if he did not initially intend to defraud his clients. There is some ethical ambiguity in this case. Discussion The lesson of this case is that transparency is the best policy, since secrets only allow the unethical behavior to continue. If Madoff had told his clients that his investments had failed, and they had lost their money, rather than engage in the Ponzi scheme, there would have been far fewer victims. The number of victims increased as Madoff was able to use the Ponzi scheme to hide his failure, which gave existing and future investors the impression that he was generating enormous returns for his clients. Questions One Greed and trust were intertwined in a way that makes the Madoff scheme somewhat ethically ambiguous as far as Madoff’s intent is concerned. He probably did not intend to create Ponzi scheme from the outset. By positioning himself among the Wall Street elite and being the former chairman of the NASDAQ, Madoff gained the trust of his clients....
Words: 642 - Pages: 3
...evolved together with advances in technology, and some have proved to be more efficient than other. This case study is chronology of the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Bernie Madoff began his brokerage firm in 1960 and grew it into one of the largest on Wall Street, New York, USA .While doing so; he began investing money as a favor to family and friends, though he was not licensed to do so. Over a period of fifty years, these side investments became an investment fund that mushroomed into a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Bernie pled guilty without a trial on March 12, 2009, and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Thousands of wealthy clients, philanthropic organizations and middle class people whose pension funds found their way into Bernie’s investment fund lost their life savings. Background In December 2008, the highly respected American businessman Bernard Madoff made the headlines when the US authorities accused him of orchestrating a $50 billion Ponzi scheme which is the biggest financial frauds of all time and made of him “The Conman of the Century”. Bernard Madoff also called “Bernie" is a former American businessman, stockbroker, investment advisor, financier and the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market and held a seat on the government advisory board on stock market regulation. During his entire long successful financial career Madoff has been considered as a trustworthy, well respected and responsible man. Bernie epitomized the American dream...
Words: 2146 - Pages: 9
...a lifeguard on the beaches of Long Island, Bernard Madoff founded “Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities,” a “trading power” house that would become one of the largest independent trading operations in the securities industry (Washington, 2012). In the year 2000 his company ranked among the top trading and securities firms in the nation. By age 70, his name had become legendary; he was considered to be one of the most “influential spokesmen” on Wall Street. But on December 11, 2008, Bernard Madoff was arrested and charged “in a 20 year Ponzi scheme, which would come to be known as “the most infamous fraud in Wall Street history (Leonard, 2008; Washington, 2012).” Mr. Madoff pleaded guilty to all federal charges filed against him, which included the following: “11 felony counts, including securities fraud, money laundering and perjury (Washington, 2012).” Judge Denny Chin was in charge of the proceedings, and on June 29, 2009, Bernard Madoff, former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 150 years. This paper will seek to analyze this case in its multiple dimensions in order to identify all ethical issues and propose potential alternatives to the moral choices that Bernard Madoff made. Facts Bernard Lawrence Madoff was born April 29, 1938. He grew up in a small Jewish community in Queens, New York. At age 22, in 1960, he founded his own wealth management business, “Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.” He made his business out of...
Words: 2361 - Pages: 10
...The Fraud of the Century: The Case of Bernard Madoff The fraud perpetrated by Bernard Madoff which was discovered in December, 2008 is based upon a Ponzi scheme. Madoff took money from new investors to pay earnings for existing customers. The greater the payout to retiring and withdrawing customer, the more revenue or clients he would need to start and “investment relationship” with Madoff. The Ponzi scheme was named after Charles Ponzi who in the early 20th Century, saw a way to profit from international reply coupons. International reply coupons were a guarantee of return postage in response to an international letter. Charles Ponzi determined that he could make money, legally, by swapping out these coupons for more expensive postage stamps in countries where the stamps were of higher value. While making a significant profit with this system, Ponzi got the idea of enticing investors to provide him more capital to trade coupons for higher priced postage stamps. His promise to investors was a 50% profit in a few days. Touted as a financial wizard and the ‘Warren Buffet’ of his day, Ponzi lived outside Boston, he had a fairly opulent life bringing in as much as $250,000/day. Part of Ponzi’s success came from is personal charisma and ability to con even savvy investors. The promised payout was supported by the new investors anxious to take advantage of these robust returns because he appeared to create an image of power, trust, and responsibility. In July of 1920...
Words: 4737 - Pages: 19
...The Fraud of the Century: The Case of Bernard Madoff 1. What are the ethical issues involved in the Madoff case? Not only is what Bernard Madoff did highly unethical but for his company to be able to pass the tax audition imposed question on the SEC internal system a farce. I guess Madoff bribed the auditors. I guess the saying money talks holds true for some. How people could morally falsify documents for money is just beyond comprehensible. To even take advantage of an innocent person is unfathomable. The ethical issues I saw were a manipulation of cash flow to make his company appear to be more valuable than it truly was and his company’s financial reports were never made public during the scheme. How is it that no one ever questioned that and he got away with it? Again, all I can think of is bribery. Makes you sort of wonder how people supposed to be dealing with the law can just break it without question and get away with it. 2. Do you believe that Bernard Madoff worked alone, or do you think he had help in creating and sustaining his Ponzi scheme? Would this represent a conflict of interest? I feel Bernanrd Madoff had help with the Ponzi scheme. Even the smartest of people need help. I don’t feel a scheme like this could be concocted or carried out alone. For no one in his company over the course of the thirty years in which he carried this scheme out to have even picked up on it is just shocking to me. Not even the accountant or auditors with respect to the financial...
Words: 697 - Pages: 3
...CASE STUDY #1 | The Function of Accounting Information Systems in the Enron and Bernard Madoff Fraud Cases | | | | | | | What is the definition of accounting information system? The Core Concepts of Accounting Information Systems textbook defines accounting information system “as a collection of data and processing procedures that creates needed information for its users” (Bagranoff, 2010). A key factor in determining the success in an organization is its accounting information system. It is the combination of the organization’s resources, such as its people, procedures, and business records that it (the organization) maintains to provide financial data. The basis of this case study is to disagree with the question of whether or not accounting information systems played a role in the Enron and Bernard Madoff fraud cases. All organizations should have an adequate, effective, and efficient accounting information system in tack. In my opinion, the Enron and Bernard Madoff fraud cases had the classic signs of pure greed; the accounting information systems were perhaps manipulated, ignored, and compromised to financially suit the personal gains of the individuals involved and did not assist with the cases. An important part of the accounting information system is its internal control system. Internal controls are methods and procedures used by an organization to safeguard assets, authorize transactions, and ensure accuracy of the accounting records...
Words: 571 - Pages: 3
...Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme was the largest in the history which defrauded investors out of as much as $65 billion. David Friehling, the leading auditor of Bernard L. Madoff Investment and Securities’ (BLMIS), was sentenced for aiding Madoff with investment advisor fraud, and filing false audit reports with the SEC. Since then, people are paying more and more attention to auditors’ and accountants’ legal liability. This document will describe the ways in which BLMIS auditor disregarded his responsibility to uphold the fundamental principles governing an audit; types of evidence to determine whether a company has purchased, sold and maintained proper custody of investment securities; definition of ordinary negligence, gross negligence, and fraud, and whether auditing firm should be facing criminal charges. As the leading auditor of BLMIS, Friehling failed to conduct audits that complied with GAAS and GAAP by failing to conduct independent verification of BLMIS assets, review material sources of BLMIS revenue, including commissions, examine a bank account through which billions of dollars of BLMIS client fraud flowed, verify liabilities related to BLMIS client accounts, verify the purchase and custody of securities by BLMIS, and test internal controls as required under GAAP and GAAS standards. Auditors should review related documents and obtain information from third parties to determine whether BLMIS had purchased, sold, and maintained proper custody of investment securities...
Words: 296 - Pages: 2
...20102004 Thi Ngoc Thuy Do When conflicts of interest between the corporations in Vietnam occur... Conflicts, disagreements between the corporations in Vietnam for two years recently happens a lot and became a frequent topic of the press. Most recent bitter controversy, which lasted between EVN and the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the Military Telecom Corporation (Viettel) was about rental rates poles. The EVN insisted increased rents columns (VNPT and Viettel have cable) up 4-8 times caused two telecom corporations anger, loudly vowed to bury thousands more other columns to get wired . Fortunately, the urban landscape was saved when the last month February 4th; the Prime Minister issued a directive nature of arbitration: The Prime Minister asked EVN to coordinate with the telecom business for the parties same general use pole system with rents on the basis of price. "Cooperation and development for the public interest", the content indicates clearly the spirit of collaboration that EVN and telecommunications businesses to work towards. This is the first time the leaders of the government must necessarily be an indicator to solve the conflict between the groups. The corporations of the Nation are also very powerful because most, if formed, are given enormous resources with near-monopoly position in the assigned areas. So, your corporation also is important and every time there is a disagreement with the other groups, "he"...
Words: 352 - Pages: 2
...Bernard Madoff was either the most ethically void individual or he just had no regard for ethics. He managed to pull off one the largest Ponzi scheme in history with very little help. He had a legitimate stock trading business on one floor and his illegitimate investment management business was on another floor (Ferrell, Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2011). The top executives in the company were family which leads to the question, did they really not know? This paper will examine the origin of the Ponzi scheme, a brief history of Bernie Madoff, and the fallout as a result of his fraudulent business. A Ponzi scheme is “a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors out of the money paid by subsequent investors rather than from legitimate profits (Fitzpatrick, 2010).” The Ponzi scheme was named after Carlo (Charles) Ponzi who fled Italy for America at the age of 21. In 1919 Ponzi developed a scheme to get investors to buy postage coupons in one country and then sell them for more money in another country (Wells, 2009). Instead of investing the money he used the pooled funds to pay investors. This lasted until 1920 when a federal audit confirmed he was bankrupt, he had scammed investors for more than $4 million (Wells, 2009). According to Wells (2009), the Madoff scheme “...may be the largest single fraud of any kind in history...” The estimated total of the Madoff scheme is $65 billion, it is the largest financial fraud in the history of Wall Street. On...
Words: 1676 - Pages: 7
...Bernard Madoff Research Paper Bernard (Bernie) Madoff committed this century’s largest Ponzi scheme to date. First we will define Ponzi Scheme – it is a fraudulent pyramid scheme where original investors are paid their gains out of new investors money so it would appear to old investor that the scheme (business) is producing an unusually large return (Albrecht, 2009). The Ponzi scheme that Madoff created and pulled off for years was quite intricate. In a standard pyramid scheme each victim unknowingly brings in more and more victims, where as a Ponzi scheme has a single entity (group or individual) to keep up with and organize the fraud. The operator of the Ponzi scheme then will take new money brought in from recent investors and pay off previous investors. For this to continue on there must be a constant influx of new investors so there must be someone working that angle on a regular basis. Eventually the group of new investors will run out because the funds dry up. In a lot of Ponzi schemes when they begin to run low on victims things seem to fall apart and investors loose it all. In some cases the perpetuator escapes the area with all the money he / she have scammed. When or if they are caught the perpetuator will have to face prosecution and / or repayment of all money to victims and possible jail / prison time or pay restitution to the government. In some cases there are assets seized to reimburse victims and pay restitution (Smith, 2011). Madoff committed...
Words: 2664 - Pages: 11
...proceedings, and divorce proceedings, as well as fraud and embezzlement. ("Forensic accounting,") Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Depending on the nature of the case, the skills necessary of the forensic accountant may vary. However, there are skills that all forensic accountants should have; • Oral communication skills- having the ability to effectively communicate and explain the findings of a case, especially in a courtroom environment is important. The FA should be able to disseminate information about company’s records and explain the importance of any interview they held with witnesses. The testimony of an FA must be able to convince the Judge in any court case. They are responsible to explain findings to a Judge and jury. Having good oral communication skills helps them to convey effectively to lawyers, police, customers, offenders, private investigators, or anyone involved with the case. (Hyder, ,...
Words: 1709 - Pages: 7
