Bernard Madoff says running world's biggest ponzi scheme was a 'head trip'

The Telegraph ^ | 2/28/2011 | Richard Blackden

[bruinbirdman]

Bernard Madoff has admitted that running the biggest financial fraud in history was a "head trip" as some of the world's biggest banks threw money at him to manage.

"The chairman of Banco Santander came to see me, the chairman of Credit Suisse came down, chairman of UBS came down," Mr Madoff told the New York Magazine in an interview. "It feeds your ego. All of a sudden, these banks which wouldn't give you the time of day, they're willing to give you a billion dollars."

In an in-depth interview conducted over 12 telephone calls from his prison in North Carolina, Madoff painted himself as someone who was constantly battling a feeling that he did not belong in the higher echelons on Wall Street. The 72-year old, who was given a 150-year prison sentence in 2009, also said that it should have been obvious to investors, regulators and banks as early as the mid-to-late Nineties that his business was a fraud.

While again shielding his family from any blame for the $65bn (£40bn) Ponzi scheme, Madoff offered little sympathy for some of those who invested with him.

Speaking about his early investors, he said: "Now if you listen to [them], they're living out of dumpsters and they don't have any money, and I'm sure it's a traumatic experience to some, but I made a lot of money for people."

The interview was Madoff's second this year, and while admitting remorse, particularly for destroying his family, the convicted fraudster was scathing about practices on Wall Street. "I realised from a very early stage that the market is a whole rigged job," he claimed. However, Madoff spent more time in the interview insisting that he wished he had been able to close down the scheme sooner. Less clear

[tgusa]

I call Bravo Sierra. The world’s biggest Ponzi scheme is very obviously Social Security.

[SpaceBar]

Madoff discovered that past a certain point, the big investment bankers, brokers, and well connected investment firms don’t think of wealth the same way a family that has to make ends meet does. It’s all a fantasy land of decimal places to them, with no connection to actual physical labor or value. He’s in prison where he belongs, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pick apart his insider’s view of the financial machine.

[bruinbirdman]

"The world’s biggest Ponzi scheme is very obviously Social Security."

From this article, "The whole government, he [Madoff] said, is a 'Ponzi scheme.' "

yitbos

[musicman]

"Bernard Madoff says running world's biggest ponzi scheme was a 'head trip' "

[Apercu]

Bernie is a minor crook compared to some of our politicians and Obama beholden financial institutions - his mistake was not having “pictures” & getting caught.

[SpaceBar]

I can’t be alone thinking that Madoff could, on a short leash, use his knowledge of markets and investment to earn back legally at least part of what he defrauded his investors. Let’s say just for giggles that if he makes make 1.5 x 50 bill to his creditors, they put him on parole with an ankle bracelet? Stranger arrangements have been made.

[PATRIOT1876]

bOO hOO!

[elcid1970]

A lot of trusting older folks lost all they had to this dirtbag and are now not living but just surviving.

My wife and I aren’t far from that point in life and feel that he screwed over a lot of ordinary people.

Me, I believe Madoff deserves a cellmate named Bluto and the ironic fate of dying in prison, just my humble opinion.