Today is shaping up to the one of the better days that Bernie Madoff has had, recently. First, that $50b number is now being reported as way too high. The actual number? Closer to $20b, a pittance in today’s money:
Harvey Pitt, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, told the wire service that Madoff “probably inflated the amount of money he had under management,” and actual losses could be below $17 billion.
Other observers said the $50 billion figure likely includes fictitious profits Madoff had claimed he made for investors.
And in more good news for Bernie, he looks set to cop a plea bargain with federal prosecutors (Madoff already made a deal with the SEC). No details of any potential bargain have been released, but so far he will have to plead guilty – unlike with the SEC – which will rob us all of the “Gotcha!” Matlock court moment that we were all waiting for. Not that he could very well plead not guilty at this point anyway, although at one point his attorneys had been mulling an insanity plea, which would have been more plausible had Madoff ripped everyone off while wearing his mother’s favorite housedress.
TonyS // Mar 6, 2009 at 12:22 pm
He looks like the product of an unholy union between Ian McKellen and Emporer Palpatine.
Fartles // Mar 6, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Is this money he stole dribbled out amongst hundreds of investors or is there a magic Blackbeard’s buried treasure-like hoard hidden somewhere that they’re still trying to find?
TonyS // Mar 6, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Remember that one contest where a ford explorer filled with money or some such nonsense was buried somewhere and you had to follow clues to find it for some stupid movie tie-in?
I’m picturing day 1 of his trial, Bernie all the sudden stands up and addresses the cameras: “Somewhere in America There is a bus locker filled with $17B. First one there gets it all!”
That would make me a happy panda.