Sense on Cents

Has Uncle Sam closed the books on the Madoff investigation?

One would have to think so because there have been so few meaningful developments to emanate from the government’s ‘supposed’ pursuit of truth and justice in this case as to lead one to believe that the case is now closed.

Aside from a few ‘ne’er do well nitwits’ involved in Madoff’s operation, few if any meaningful names outside of the Madoff lair have been implicated in this massive scam.

Time may erode the public outrage over our government’s massive failure to protect and perform in this case but does that mean that justice neglected should remain justice denied?

One would think so given the fact that co-conspirators in this case have not surfaced or been brought to justice.

Begs the question as to just how much Uncle Sam really wants to share with the public as to what really happened within the Madoff operation.

The last person in this scandal who deserves a bully pulpit and any sort of meaningful public credibility is the scumbag Bernie Madoff himself.  That said, “information is everything” and with little of note in regard to meaningful information being shared with the public, one wonders whether investigators truly care to learn — or share — all of what transpired within the Madoff scam over the years.

For these very reasons, I find it truly regrettable that independent investigators of unquestioned credibility and integrity have not handled this case. If they did, who knows where the trail may have led them and who within the halls of power in Washington and executive suites on Wall Street might have been implicated. I think the chances of these developments ever occurring are slim and none and slim never had much of a chance to begin with.

All this said, the villain himself recently shared with Fox News that he is willing to name names of those within Wall Street banks whom he maintains knew what he was up to.

 . . . in an e-mail to FOX Business reporter Adam Shapiro received Tuesday, Madoff said he plans to offer specific information to Congressional committees investigating both his crimes and possible complicity on the part of Madoff’s banking partners.

Madoff said he has offered Irving Picard, the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee who has pored over Madoff’s finances since the scheme collapsed in late 2008, information that would prove his assertion, but the trustee has so far ignored Madoff’s efforts.

Madoff wrote to Shapiro: “From my first interview to the media I have said that ‘the banks must have known’, and were complicit and contributing to my crime. Although I have offered the bankruptcy TRUSTEE (sic) the information that I possessed that would demonstrate in detail their complicit behavior of banks like JP Morgan, Bank of N.Y., HSBC, Citicorp and others. The Trustee seems unwilling to act on my offer. Therefor (sic) I am offering this information to the appropriate governmental committees in the hope that this information will prove helpful in future regulation of the appropriate institutions.”

Amanda Remus, a spokesman for the trustee’s office, said in an e-mail: “The SIPA Trustee’s position is that, as the perpetrator of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, Madoff’s credibility is highly suspect and has no substantive value.”

Remus is right. Madoff has no credibility BUT then again neither does Whitey Bulger or any other hardened criminal. Does that mean investigators do not collect information from these scumbags, pursue the leads, and see where it takes them? Of course not. Is this really being done? Great question.

. . .  the U.S. Treasury Department disclosed in January that it’s conducting an investigation into J.P. Morgan’s dealings with Madoff. The department hasn’t described the scope of the investigation.

Really? Do you think we will learn anything of note? Or might this end with another token fine for lax oversight of money transfers and little else?

The issue here is whether investigators truly and fully care to pursue Madoff’s leads — or any others — that lead into the bastions of power and money (can you say, JP Morgan, HSBC, BONY Mellon, Citigroup?) that control our nation. 

Do you agree or disagree?

Larry Doyle

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I have no business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 29th, 2013 at 5:50 AM and is filed under Bernie Madoff, General, Madoff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.