Madoff and Watergate

No, Bernie Madoff didn't play a role in the Watergate scandal (at least as far as we know) but it turns out that his Ponzi scheme may have been going way back then. If so, it will go down in history as not only the largest Ponzi scheme we know of but also the longest running scheme too (by far!). This new revelation is according to the guilty plea of 66 year old David L. Kugel who was apparently associated with Madoff even back when Richard Nixon was in the Whitehouse. Here are a few quotes:

Free Markets, Families and Regulating Fraud

I’ve been reading several calls for prosecution of fraud on Wall Street lately. No, these aren’t coming from the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Instead, top economic and business commentators and scholars are noting the dearth of prosecution and the role this is playing in our economic challenges. This is a fascinating debate and I only have time to capture enough to spark your interest in hopes that you will check out some of the sources I post. For starters,

Update on Olympus: Potential Ties to Organized Crime

Not only is Olympus being accused of a massive financial statement fraud, the latest revelations suggest that the financial statement fraud involved companies with links to organized fraud.  According to the NYT:

Olympus is Accused of Massive Financial Statement Fraud

The camera and electronics company, Olympus, is being reported to have engaged in a massive financial statement fraud. Reports are pretty ambiguous right now but this could be one of the largest financial reporting frauds we've seen in a long time. Here are some excerpts from the NY Times article today:

A New Madoff Interview

60 Minutes Overtime aired a video recently of an interview with Ruth and Andrew Madoff discussing such things as the decision and process of turning Bernie in to the authorities, etc. Andrew and his mother also talk about Bernie and Ruth's failed effort to commit suicide. Crazy stuff for sure...Check it out here.