Burt Ross, who lost $5 million in Bernard Madoff's swindle, exited the New York courthouse where Mr. Madoff had just been sentenced Monday. Mr. Ross said the crimes were hurtful to society in a way that transcends the dollar values lost.
(Louis Lanzano/AP)Photos (1 of 1)
Madoff case a window on Wall Street greed
Some see his behavior as an extreme example. Others suggest that investors might have been too eager for outsized returns.
By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer/ June 29, 2009 edition
The US public is responding to the Bernard Madoff case by voicing not only anger, but also anguish over broader questions of greed and betrayal in America.
Some Americans cite Mr. Madoff’s behavior, which led to a massive case of investor fraud, as an extreme example of how greed got out of control on Wall Street – and how greed contributed to a financial crisis. Others offer this twist: Maybe the problem of avarice characterized the victims, too, in their eagerness for outsized investment returns. And many express concern that ethical lapses in corporate America go well beyond the realm of investments.
The scale of the fraud was big enough to land Madoff a 150-year sentence and to prompt strong reaction at a time when millions of Americans are struggling financially. Some of the feelings found a voice Monday in the person of Burt Ross, a lawyer and real estate investor who lost $5 million in Madoff’s swindle.
Speaking on TV outside the New York courthouse where Madoff had just been sentenced, Mr. Ross said that the crimes were hurtful to society in a way that transcends the dollar values lost. Ross echoed the statement he had just delivered in the courtroom, as one of the victims who presented statements: “Several hundred years ago, the Italian poet Dante … recognized fraud as the worst of sins, the ultimate evil more than any other act contrary to God’s greatest gift to mankind – love.”
To Ross, Madoff betrayed the bedrock trust that allows society to function, has showed little sign of remorse, and has “earned his reputation for being the most despised person living in America today.”
Not everyone shared that harsh assessment, but one Internet-based survey finds that 90 percent of respondents either agree with the judge’s sentence or believe Madoff should have gotten even more years in prison. Judge Denny Chin gave the maximum sentence possible for the securities fraud and other charges to which Madoff pleaded guilty.
Some other hints of the moral lens through which America views the Madoff affair emerged before the sentencing:
• When asked which factor is more to blame in the Madoff case, 41 percent of Americans believe it was his greed, according to a Rasmussen poll in January. Another 19 percent put more emphasis on investor greed since Madoff touted investments with a much higher rate of return than other financiers were offering. And 29 percent blame a lack of government regulation. People who identify themselves as investors were slightly more likely to cite investor greed as a factor.
• In the closing months of 2008, as Americans became more aware of Madoff’s Ponzi-style swindle, a stronger majority began supporting tougher financial regulation, according to CNN/Opinion Research polls at the time. Those were also months of major turbulence for banks and the stock market.
• Three Americans in four believe the moral compass of corporate America is pointing the wrong way, according a Marist College Institute for Public Opinion poll this spring, conducted with the Knights of Columbus. In the survey, a majority of executives agreed.
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Comments
2. Chuck Craytor | 06.30.09
Hopefully he will spend the remainder of his life in prison and his accomplices are found and triad. In addition, it is hoped that all his assets found and used to repay those he stole from.
3. Brian George | 06.30.09
Having been an investment advisor for many years, there is tremendous pressure to produce high returns. And when that fails, it is the fault of the broker , not the greed of the investor.
If it’s too good to be true, greed simply clouds ones reasoning.
Bernie Madoff is definitely guilty as charged however, so are the investors that were looking for those huge returns and not doing their own due diligence!
4. Chris Temple | 06.30.09
I think we American’s need to be careful about how we continue to demonize “corporate America”. This story unnecessarily extrapolates the guilt of one man to all corporations. We need to remember who puts the food on the grocery store shelves, who provides our cars, appliances, and all important computers, who provides our medicines and hospitals, who provides our energy, and who organizes our faith in churches. And, who is the biggest of employers (aside from the fed).
Most importantly, we need to remember that corporations are a result of (or reaction to) high taxes and law suits, two “institutions” we continue to embrace. Companies will continue to shelter and protect themselves with corporate labyrinths as long as some in our society look to Robin Hood and lawyers for their personal retirement plans.
Madoff got what he deserved, he’ll never again be a free man. His lack of personal responsibility (or just plain humanity) has landed his retirement in the big house. But what of our personal responsibility? When we trip and fall or get in a little fender-bender, do we need a band aid or a lawyer? Is it an accident or opportunity?
Society built these evilest of empires; corporations and Wall Street. Will society begin take their share of the responsibility?
5. Harry Johnson | 06.30.09
Business schools, media, and folklore all glorify success….just review the parade of big-talking, Gucci-dressed, blowhards/egotists that are the darlings of TV, the news programs, and magazines. What we need, as a nation, is a view of success that doesn’t focus exclusively on money, cars, mansions, parties, personal worth, beauty, yachts, private airplanes, lavish ski trips to Aspen and the like. Let’s all build a new list for our lives; some recommendations: integrity, public service, brotherly love, modesty, thoughtfulness, kindness, small cars, etc.
6. Alan Willis | 06.30.09
The “bedrock trust that allows society to function” is the point in the article above which most resonates with me. Early in my adult life, this fundamental principle dawned on me. If you think about it, the functioning of our society depends on one promise kept after another, from the simplest, such as a restaurant reservation kept, to home and business purchases. Sure, we have contracts and laws which purport to enforce them, but, in the end, it all comes down to the Golden Rule. I think that’s what Mr. Ross recognized with his comment paraphrased in the article above.
7. Jeri DeYoun | 06.30.09
Mr. Madoff reflects the core of most consumer driven citizens. They would do the same thing if they had the skills and the opportunity. Greed made for an easy target, people who just couldn’t get enough succumb to any pitch. The recession was staged by people like him, “The Best Way to Rob A Bank Is To Own One” by William Black spells it all out. It was government stupidity and American bred greed that caused this recession.
8. Douglas Goodall | 06.30.09
When people become larger than life in business or politics, they sometimes begin to think they are above the law or in some way different than other people. When a man has billions, it may be harder to relate to people who only have thousands or hundreds. These days we only have to look around to see results of financial and employment failure in our own neighborhoods. Obviously what we have been doing isn’t working very well. From the position of a corporation president of a publicly traded company, share prices and dividends have become the most important things. I see a lack of human values there. Also a lack of pride about what a corporation can do for its employees and the people it comes in contact with. HOw long has it been since you said to yourself, “It is sure a pleasure dealing with this company?”
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1. Gaurav Goel | 06.29.09
There is no moral compass left in corporate America. What has been depleted is quite simple to explain: the recognition that every human being has dignity and inherent worth. Corporate America has unlearned its core competence — cultivating and managing human capital, which is the most valuable, profit-generating resource any economic system is provided.