What the hell is wrong with this picture? Does the prosecutor feel they don't have enough evidence to get a solid conviction without a plea? Is this guy going to end up walking with a slap on the wrist as reward for stealing thousands of people's life savings?

This guy would be found guilty by any jury that is assembled. No need for a plea deal. Go after the bastard and see that he spend the rest of his life in prison.....and not one of those country club jails either.

If he does walk, he'd be wise not to walk out in public. I understand some of his clients would like to exact a little justice of their own.

Why the hell is this SOB getting a deal? I want him to stand trial before a jury! He is scum of the worst kind, and gives credence to the stereotype of the evil Jew greedy for everyone else's money. He needs to be held accountable for the $50 Billion he stole, same as the Bushies need to be held accountable for their War Crimes and Crimes against humanity. Will they, too, get cushy deals? What the hell has happened to law enforcement in this country? Used to be that if you did the crime you did the time, but now it seems if you break the law (unless, of course you are poor or middle class) you get rewarded. Madoff wants to keep a $7 Million home in Manhattan, plus $53+ Million? What a load of $hit. How about the people he defrauded of their life savings, and the charities he has bankrupted?

Gods this makes me sick.

Plea deal???

What the devil is this? If this deal flies it should be clear enough to the rest of us little fish that the bigger the crime the less chance you will pay for it.

Either the evidence doesn't exist to convict this mutt of massive fraud or the fix is in. Score another one for the misnamed American justice system.

Turn him loose on the street I say! He'll learn pretty quick that he is safer in prison.

As for many (not all, but many) of his "investors", they were as greedy as Madoff they deserve the losses the suffered.

I want to see this a$$ hole penniless and living on the street, jail would be way too good for this epitome of human debris. Take ALL his family assets and liquidate them, then distribute to those he bilked. MADOFF YOU SUCK!!

As a very rich person, he has a lot of influence with government officials. My guess is he has a lot of dirt on very prominent people.

WTF ! He and everyone associated with the money should be publicly executed !

Is there any difference in someone who gave millions in intellegence to the soviets during the 70s and a man who harmed his country giving billions to himself and a few accomplices?

Treason - he should die.

His plea deal will result in him spending the rest of his life in prison. The plea is more an avenue to avoid spending millions of government dollars fighting the best attorneys stolen money can buy. If he cooperates there is a better chance some of the victims may actually see money. If he fights it there will be nothing left for anyone except whoever is holding his secret accounts.

Madoff is 70 years old and if he spent the rest of his natural life in prison that still wouldn't be justice for what he did. His wife needs to go to jail also for conspiracy for his crimes. She's dragging out millions of dollars out of their account and she cays that it's her money not his. They were in business together and quote "business partners." They say that the 50 billion is a little overstated but nonetheless I'm sure it's still up in the billions of dollars. The government needs to take everything the Madoff's own and take everything away that they have sold or hidden because of this. 20 years in prison is way to lenient for him. I'm real curious to see what his punishment will be.

Guess all we can hope for is the wrist slap really hurts.

This bastard, the animal that he is, needs to die in the electric chair, hangmans knot, lethal injection, two electric probes shoved up his butt, some how this man needs to be put down like a rabid dog.

After which every person he embezzled from needs to piss on his grave!

If he walks free it will be a message loud and clear that theft is OK if it is for the big bucks.

How does this guy get a plea! If they are going to use the justice system in an unfair way, it should be to make an example out of him not to let him off.

A plea deal is total bullhockey!!! Madoff gets off with a spanking, keeps plenty of wealth for when he gets out of prison... Oh I can see it now. No plea... BURN HIS ASS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

Hey, one question comes to mind.... Do the bilked investors get a freaking plea deal too? This is almost beyond belief... Just shows that money can buy special judicial treatment. What a farce this will make of our legal system.

NO PLEA DEAL!!!

Put him on trial and if guilty, put him away forever, or hang him either one..

1 Year probation. 2 weeks community service.

He will inevitably get less than 2 years in a Federal white collar "resort" - he needs to go to someplace like Leavenworth with the general population. He has ruined the lives of many, which in this case has some parallels to murder when suicides have resulted from his piracy.

Unbelievable. A public execution at lunch time down on Wall Street would make a nice statement as far as I’m concerned. Then let him hang in public for a week or so afterward.

PLEA DEAL...thought those are for small fish and people that follow the rule of his bail....NOT

theres no bigger fish to catch...he is it...with all the suffering he cause...and he is gonna get away with it?

How can anyone that has caused so many people to loose the retirement, houses, etc. be allowed to keep anything. Everything he has accumaleted should be taken and sold at fair market value, and not to him. All of his assets should be taken, he should spend time in jail, a lot of time, and then he will understand what he did to people. If he wants to swap information for prison time reductions, maybe. But, he should not be allowed to keep any assets.

NO plea should ever be offered when so many families are hurt by his actions. What the hell is the plea....5 months in a five star resort! Damn this nation

Hmmmmmmmm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's see the Ponzi scheme was for either $ 50 or 60 billion. (seems to depend on the article being written at the moment.)

They identified only about 1 billion of recoverable assets.

They want to cut a deal ??????

I agree with many of the other postings. What's Wrong With This Picture ?????

I don't believe in capital punishment, but am willing to reconsider my position in this case!! This guy and all the other ilk who have been caught stealing this kind of money should be strung up and publicly executed.

If I were to commit armed robbery of a convenient store in the state of Ohio for $25.00, I would immediately get thrown in jail, have to stand trial and serve a minimum of three years in prison. Madoff has been spending his time under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment!!!

...and now he's going to cop a plea

Here is the long and short of it in my estimation: You have heard about the people that lost money in his scheme. What about the ones that made money? I would bet there are some hi powered folks that made a mint from him. Do they want their names out there. Judges, Politician's? Of course he will get a hand slap and a zipper installed on his mouth so he wont tell, what a deal.

These Federal prosecutors need to be fired. Period. End of Sentence.

A plea deal is never appropriate after a full admission of guilt has been made. This is what happen when lawyers who are political appointees make these decisions. They apply the "lawyers' golden rule" --- if I was caught in this circumstance, how would I want to be treated (and frequently how much would I be willing to pay to be treated that way."

Ahhhhh, our government at work again...got to protect as much as possible the rich and the crooks connected with wall street...nothing new there...but heaven forbid if one of the folks on mainstreet robs somebody....forget it...to jail they go. So, where is the justice in this?

Steve From New River AZ, obviously you're right. The whole concept of a Ponzi scheme assumes that subsequent investors' funds are used to pay the returns on the initial investors funds. Unravelling this would be a nightmare and I'd bet you are bang on the money that there are a bunch of unnamed people who have not lost everything.The only ones really out will be the last ones on the sinking ship.

As for the handslap sentencing, I honestly don't think that's possible anymore. There are some pretty stringent Federal sentencing guidelines in effect these days. Judges no longer have anywhere near as much leeway as they used to. I'd be surprised if the aggravating circumstances (size, number of people affected etc.) don't push the minimum served to 10+ and I believe these days there is no credit towards early release for good behavior in the Federal court system.

come-on you people, give the poor guy a break. After all, this is America where you are judged not by what you have done but by how much money you have. He's going to get a slap on the wrist, spen a few years in jail then disappear into the mist so he and his family can enjoy the millions he stole from everyone. Only in America would he be allowed to get away with a plea deal even though he would be found guilty in any court in the land. Actually, we should be thankful he is accepting a plea deal. If he went to trial one of his high paid lawyers would probably find somewhere in a cort document that someone forgot to cross a T and he would walk free completely. We condemn the islamic republics but if this were happening there, there wouldn't be any plea deal, he would just walk away. Oh yea, with his hands cut off for stealing, forgot about that part. :-)

If Madoff goes down, he'll take all of Wall Street and half of DC down with him.

He'll never serve a day in jail.

A plea will save the New York taxes payors unknown numbers of dollars. This is a good thing. The Prosecutors are interested in other culpable partners. These names would not come out with a trial. The plea is a makes sense deal. Let's just hope he goes to prison like he deserves.

Capital punishment isn't for making examples, it's for making bad people dead.

A friend of mind offered the opinion that the Madoff case is the best possible argument in favor of bringing back public executions. Truthfully, it is hard (impossible?) to find any mitigating circumstances which would favor leniency. The only deal I would accept would involve jail time and the total surrender of all assets belonging to either him or his wife, children or children's spouses. None of these clowns became wealthy except through milking this scam over the past 10+ years. None of either his or his family's millions should be exempt from seizure.

I'd like to see him serve 10 years and then find residence in a nice double-wide somewhere in upstate New York (or any other rural area). Let him live of soc. security and eat navy beans like many of the people he bilked.

If I hear of any deal more lenient then I'll be angry (I know, big deal).

I commented before; this baffoon should be sentenced to a delinquents wilderness camp in Southern Utah for the rest of his life; but in shackles, no radio, no i-pod, no newspapers, no visitors, only minimal food and water, no toilet paper, create his own lean-to and footwear, (almost like our survival training when we even had to find our own food and water). Be surprised if he last a year.

Well well well.... Just what I predicted... No time...He keeps plenty and lives the good life..... Isn't great to be a AMERICAN!!!!!!!

I wonder which country in the Middle East has a very big intertest in this case and is most likely assisting Madoff behinds the closed doors.

Abe Foxman of ADL fame stated the media coverage of Madoff was antisemitic b/c he is Jewish!!! WTF? He is a crook plain and simple and he has admitted what he has done yet he sits in a luxury condo and his wife still holds 62million. The who;e thing is a joke but one wonders how powerful Foxman is and is he able to get Madoff special treatment to avoid him being victimized?? lol!!

Does anybody know what the rules are to getting paid. Who gets first dibbs ? How does this work ?

Hell at this rate the judge will make sure Madoff gets paid and noone else except him and maybe the fed att. Oh ya lets not forget his wife the 15 mi lion she took the day be fore he turned him self in. the people they stood from get nothing he rich there not. He owns a few congress man I 'm sure

No Deal! All of his assets, and any money even remotely connected with him, needs to be surrendered and he should be left with NOTHING. That would be much better punishment than anything and put him on the street instead of paying for him top be in an executive prison, which is what he wants. No assistance. No public money. On the street with nothing. That is what he did to his "investors."

I have mentioned the fact that the Amerikan Sheep (us citizens) blindly (brainwashed) follow the Crooked Government and how crooks, thieves, criminals in private business, contribute monies so the government thieves will get elected, then government crooks will give the honest hard working tax payers dollars to the criminals in private business (which failed in those business's), who want to sustain their lifestyle.

People have committed suicide from losing their investments with Madoff. Madoff should be charged and treated accordingly = accessory to murder! No bail, etc., like any other citizen would be who contributed to a death during a crime,

Great Country Amerika!

So if I befriended Mafoff at charity benefit, I should get all my assets seized? What rock from 1940's Germany did you crawl out from under?

The guilty should be judged. Others should not be tainted by Madoff's mis-deeds. I seem to remember something about innocence and guilt needed to be proven. Have you heard that?? I am sure I read that... somewhere.

I'm sure we all have. Madoff admitted the fraud to save his sons from being implicated. He also made certain that his assets were placed in his wife's name. The man is guilty. You obviously prefer enable rich feces faces like Madoff to cause 2 suicides and bring 2 banks down just so he can jet off to Jerusalem.

doktor t.,
Innocence does not have to be proven, only guilt. I think many of the posters here are refering to the reports of Madoff ADMITTING guilt. If these reports are in fact true, why the plea deal reports. Maybe others are complicit with this scheme and good 'ol Bernie will rat them out too. I don't know though, it just seems strange. This plea deal report has to have more to it. Or are the Fed and SEC investigators that inept.

I also took what he said to mean those friends that were involved in the scheme not casual ones.

Maybe Madoff can teach a university course in advanced financial crimes.

i think the investigaters are enept like most government employees

doktorthomas

Damn right you should, its called cleaning house....sometimes(regularly) it HAS to be done! If you enjoy the likes of people like Madoff, you deserve the same fate that America believes (not the justice system, there not true Americans) you should get! Its not a walk in the park to steal from people, it just doesn't land in your lap....its planned and with any planned crime, you get the max....period.

No Proof, but many articles and some statements seem to indicate that the SEC was more than a little remiss in doing it's job.

The goal of plea bargaining may be just to keep the inept government officials from being exposed or MAYBE IT'S JUST WORSE THAN ANY OF US CAN IMAGINE !!!!

The so-called "Justice" in this plea deal goes to those at the top of Madoff's contribution list....like Schumer, Lautenberg and others who accepted campaign contributions from Madoff. Prediction: This plea deal goes through to save the asses of those at the topmost line of government foodchain from ever going to jail and Madoff in return gets a one way ticket to Israel whom I'd bet Madoff has already made huge contributions for this soft crash landing. The guy makes history with the largest Ponzi scheme and all of his cronies who allowed this get off scott free. Works for them....Just not the rest of the country.

lol... However, the sad part is you are probably 100% correct. Aaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plea bargains are not just; they are expedient for judges and lawyers. It is amazing how important golf is... Plea bargains also allow quick admissions of guilt, but derail the victim's day in court. They give the criminal a certain amount of damage control by admitting to lesser crimes. About 94% of criminal cases end this way.

So, if it took 10 years for Madoff to be found out, what's their hurry? And, why isn't the Justice Department overseeing this or some US Attorney instead of a New York Judge?

As I have said in other posts, this man knows where too many skeletons are buried. He has so much dirt on many powerful on Wallstreet and on Capitol Hill, they will do whatever they can to come to some kind of consensus. Some punishment, but not so much that he will give a tell all interview. Regardless, the people of this country should be outraged. If he is not imprisoned and assets seized, the people need to massively show their anger. Plant themselves outside his apartment, march on Washington. To me anyway, he is truly symbolic of the whole system gone amuck. Although he is not fully responsible, he represents the raping of America. He also represents the inequities of our judicial system. We should be outraged.

Where's the justice in a plea deal???

JAIL!

I don't think being Jewish is a relevant factor. I would suspect it is more a case of being politically well connected.

Gee hadenough, this is very original. Blame all of our problems on the Jews. That's what Hitler did. Jews don't run American. If anything, Madoff's victims were primarily Jews so you should be happy. Why don't we stop the hate. It doesn't help anyone. I'm angry at any crook and Madoff should spend the rest of his life in jail. The fact that he's Jewish or his victims were Jewish is completely irrelevant. There are plenty of Christian crooks also. I don't think anyone is looking for a bail out here either.

Wow, Hadenough, don't you have some brown shirt gathering to attend?

Being Jewish certainly is a factor...........

open your eyes

RICH JEWS RUN AMERICA and are running it into the ground

Wake up America………….

Wow, you certainly are a 'good American.'

This has little to do with being Jewish and everything to do with being rich and powerful.

hadenough is never relevant.

We should just ignore this guy who never has anything of substance to say except to tell us how much he misses the good old days in the Munich beer hall.

To no party affiliation: Your racist remark is disgusting. Are you saying that all jews are of this nature? Then that must mean all the mortgage brokers, banks, some CEO's must be jewish, politicians etc. How about all the oil suppliers in the middle east, Canada, Russia etc. They have to be included in your list. It's people like you, you are probably a KKK member, who keep the people in this country coming together as a unified nation. Too bad I can't ask some sheiks that they are jewish.

I'm saying that while we needn't hate all Jews, we must also face the fact that the Jewish people don't consider themselves Americans first. Therefore, their loyalties are divided and their clanism is what get most of them into trouble no matter what country they go to. If you are trying to impress upon anyone that Madoff just happens to have a Jewish lawyer and just happened to give to Jewish elected officials more than $20,000 for their campaigns while Rangel got a paltry $2,000 from Madoff, you need to open your eyes. If everyone in this country acted this sectarian, we'd be no better off than Iranians, Iraqis or any other Muslim country. The US government is hiding the donations Madoff gave to Israel in the past 10 years. That was Madoff's escape fund if he got caught. Why Israel? I can't imagine....Can you?

The US government is hiding the donations Madoff gave to Israel in the past 10 years. That was Madoff's escape fund if he got caught. Why Israel? I can't imagine....Can you?

ewent, wow you're amazing. You state with such authority that you know all about donations that Madoff made that were hidden. I am guessing you've discovered the billions that paid CPA's and white crime investigators from the FBI have failed to locate thus far.

I am hoping you can also educate all of us ignoramuses on what Allen Stanford did with the billions he defrauded investors out of. He's not Jewish so which country did he buy himself a haven in? This will no doubt be a snap for you to solve. BTW I missed the newsflash when you helped Enron investors find their lost billions.

You know, newsvine used to be a site where comments were made based on fact in evidence. How things have changed seeing as most people now seem to think that simply rambling on about things, repeating fallacies, point blank making things up, etc makes them come true so they suit their beliefs and biases.

hadenough-345906, so let's get this straight. According to you, thousands of Jewish Americans colluded to create a giant Ponzi scheme so that over the course of some 20+ years they could give an extra $20 Billion to Israel by eventually letting the scheme collapse and then getting a government/taxpayer bailout? Who's going to star in this movie?

Interesting concept, but how would you explain that the actual foreign aid we've given Israel has exceeded that amount by far over the same time period? What purpose would this solve? And what evidence do you have that a bailout will even exist beyond the parameters of investor protection afforded by the Federal Government? Or are we just continuing the trend of making things up?

You sure seem to be someone who believes in some major conspiracy theories.

Voter in LA,

yup, pretty much ....................but not thousands , only a few at the top.

Madoff came forward (if you remember) and immediatly said it was a scheme and he was guilty.... now that makes it fraud and not just a bad investment. After Enron the laws were changed and the tax payors will bail his investors out because it was fraud..

BUT HERE IS THE QUESTION , i want you to ask yourself....

Many of Madoff's victims were professional investors who lost other people's money (like your mom and dad's 401ks) .... Do you really think PROFESSIONAL investors are going to go for a ponzi scheme allegedly run by this 1 guy , Madoff, and 1 shady accountant who's office was in a strip mall. NO WAY. they absolutely were in on it. The super wealthy will get their money back whether it is in direct bailout or tax credits.... The middle class, whose 401k's tanked..... let's just say they won't.

Now look around at the Banking derivative nightmare... Banks selling each other useless paper and doubling the price with every transaction... and while this crap was on their books, they were flush....... paying dividends and big bonuses all aroud ..... NOW when the game is up, who is buying all the bad debt paper? Joe tax payer.

This mess all started in the derivative bond market despite what the media tells you.

If you don't see a conspiracy to transfer the wealth of America, than I think you are the one that is confused. Look into how the sharks bought up American corporations for pennies on the dollar during the great depression. They are doing it again!!

oh and it's not only Madoff, there are at least a dozen other guys that have done the same thing recently, Madoff is just the biggest and he is making the papers.

It is certainly a lot more than 20 Billion

So hadenough, how exactly did you find out about this secret scheme if it originated so high up?

Silly girl, there you go using logic again when you should be rummaging around for your tinfoil hat to protect you from all these evil conniving con artists hadenough is warning you about who are trying to enrich Israel at your expense.

I'm surprised nobody has blamed the oil industry yet. Or Bush.

Because I am not dumbed down on TV and fluoride.

It is a hard pill to swallow, but money is FAKE. Money is supposed to be a tool to facilitate trad and is not supposed to have intrinsic value. WHY CAN'T WE GO INTO A BANK AND CHANGE OUR CASH IN FOR GOLD COINS??

here is a 101 lesson for open minded interested people

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936&ei=VavSSP6ZL4n8-gHd5KDIAg&q=money+masters

Does anybody griping about being Jewish-American have any idea how many Jewish-Americans and Jewish non-profit charitable agencies Madoff ruined? There are investors that literally find themselves homeless and charities that have to close the doors. Being Jewish-American may have been a ticket to the show but in the end it was the ax at the door.

I'm still not seeing the connection why you still feel you have to blame Jews other than the simple fact that many bankers have Jewish ethnicity. But I would also still question some of your observations above:

Madoff came forward (if you remember) and immediatly said it was a scheme and he was guilty.... now that makes it fraud and not just a bad investment. After Enron the laws were changed and the tax payors will bail his investors out because it was fraud..

Cite the law that stipulates that please.

Do you really think PROFESSIONAL investors are going to go for a ponzi scheme allegedly run by this 1 guy , Madoff, and 1 shady accountant who's office was in a strip mall. NO WAY. they absolutely were in on it

I assume you are aware of Madoff's background and his position at one time as Chairman of NASDAQ? It's not like Joe Schmo walked off the streets and starting promising ridiculous returns.

NOW when the game is up, who is buying all the bad debt paper? Joe tax payer.

Show me where other than prosecution expenses the taxpayer is committed to spend one dime on a bailout beyond that afforded under normal protection through the Federally provided SIPC. I'd suspect more will be provided by Fidelity Insurance Policies.

If you don't see a conspiracy to transfer the wealth of America, than I think you are the one that is confused. Look into how the sharks bought up American corporations for pennies on the dollar during the great depression. They are doing it again!!

I guess I am a shark because there most definitely are companies out there that I feel confident will survive and whose current stock pricing is attractive enough for me to purchase. You are afforded the same opportunity. If you lack the funds to do so, sorry but that's not my fault and don't blame those of us who saved and invested wisely and weren't greedy.

hadenough is a David Icke/Alex Jones fanboi who is always spewing some racist stuff on here. Please report his comments and account. Racist rhetoric is against the Terms of Service of this site.

Awww dangit and I was just enjoying seeing the troll show his true colors and ignorance yet again.

Tyler & Voter in LA I strongly suggest that you and the rest of humanity watch the video that hadenough so courteously provided a link to. The video is 2 years old and 100% spot on regarding the current state of the worlds economic affairs. The video contains absolutely no anti-semitic rhetoric, is well documented and verifiable.

In the event that the content of the video un-nerves you, then you, Bernie Madoff, and all of the greedy misanthropic a-holes in this world should suffer a long and torturous death.

Well, RiseUp4CommonSense - your remark just shows how deeply distrust of Jewish people runs in some sectors of our society and, simultaneously, how little sense can be found in statements uttered in the name of "common sense".

First off, accused people, be they rich, Jewish, poor or whatever, are ususually not jailed prior to trial, unless they pose either a flight risk or a direct danger to the public. Accused perpetrators of violent crimes are not infrequently jailed. So to are are white-collar criminals arrested at the airport with their passports in hand. Almost everybody else is granted some kind of bail.

That said, I see no reason for the prosecution to offer any deal to Maddoff. They have a mountain of evidence against him, including his alleged confession. If they can't get a trial conviction on this one, they should step out of their current positions and busy themselves busting cool-aid stands which fail to collect sales tax.

Yes, Maddoff should go down and go down hard. If he pleads guilty, it should be with at least a 10 year sentence and the forefit all and assets belonging to himself, his wife , or his extended family which can reasonably be linked to his investment scheme. Failing that, yes, I think you could say he's received preferential treatment. But not yet.

I thought RiseUp4CommonSense was the rabid anti-semite... then I read a couple of Handenough's. Hard to know where to start in refuting his ideas. I visited the concept of the 'gold standard' and why we can no longer trade our currency in for gold at the bank. This has been so for generations, which cover some of the most prosperous times of our nation. But the craziest concept is the belief that it is in some way beneficial to a small group of wealthy Jews to bankrupt this nation. As this nation goes, so fares its Jewish minority and a collapsing economy, such as we have now, benefits almost nobody.

The belief that a Jewish-Communist conspiracy was somehow behind the economic collapse of Germany in the 1930s help fuel the rise of Hitler's 3rd Reich, and all that followed. It is scary to see how much these ideas still resonate today.

hadenough, Thanks for the Link, Very interesting, It brings it all to perspective,changed my views of The Federal Reserve Bank, I always thought, We should go back to the Gold Standard,but not no more,It only point to a future of uncertainty's. Just at par with My Collection of Pre-WWII History Books and The Fall of Christendom, If right, it might be late for Our Country. The Founding Fathers did warned US. The enemies had always plotted out our destruction,but little they knew it will be their too. Soon I will leave the country to my paradise reserve and start a new chapter in my life. It will be sad to see and hear that thing are only going to get worst, it has been written. But We will survive and a New Era will start. I will move on to bigger missions,and work for the salvation of Our Country, It will take a huge ARMY, but it will be done. The old ways will cease to exist. I will be an observer till my departure. May The Lord Bless you, if you do not believe in him, May He also. Just stay out of group assimilation relish. The Lord has the last call.

The Money Masters Video is a great video for really explaining how the central banking system is a criminal cartel..

BUT I DO NOT advocate a gold standard because the same criminals control all the GOLD.

What America needs to do is follow the ORIGINAL spirit of the Constitution.. repeal the federal reserve amendment and have an honest federal government spend notes into circulation.....

NOT a criminal federal reserve bank issuing money as debt.

I think this kind of thing is a legitimate reason to use capital punishment: the cold-blooded bilking of people out of their life savings. Same applies to Enron folks, some CitiBank folks, etc.

That is the part I just don't get. Why on earth was he allowed to stay in his penthouse during this process? Any one of us would have had our as* in jail in a heartbeat!

They also don't mention the assets he moved over to his wife's name and property that was covered in the news last week. He claims those millions had nothing to do with his investment practice.

That is the part I just don't get. Why on earth was he allowed to stay in his penthouse during this process? Any one of us would have had our as* in jail in a heartbeat!

They also don't mention the assets he moved over to his wife's name and property that was covered in the news last week. He claims those millions had nothing to do with his investment practice.

It's ok, i'm not scared. The madoff family can flee the country with their millions of dollars of digital 1's and 0's for all I care. So can the rest of the business and monied classes. I... could... care.... less!

Their home, their business, their workforce, the natural resources they exploit to make those fortunes, and anything of real value cannot be taken with them. Hell, even the gold sits in a vault in Kentucky. All.... they.... have.... is... paper.

Have it at rich folks, flee with your money. Amuse us all!

Yes they should of given him the choice of Purchasing a condo in the projects or sitting in Jail.

Sure he did. You are an idiot lord shado.

how do think they paid for all the tanks and planes.

The United States government, seriously!

Then why is this plea deal going through like an Acela train to DC? Surely you are not so naive to believe that the government doesn't want this Madoff issue squashed become of its own complicity? Madoff supported numerous election campaigns. Do you seriously think those 2 Swiss banks he took down were just an "oops"? And, if he supported elected officials, why not judges? Why not the Justice Department? Why not the biggest brokerage houses on Wall Street? What else explains why elected officials told the SEC to look the other way at Madoff's criminal activities?

They paid for them with money we gave them and money we had to borrow to do it. They in turn send some back as political donations to both parties. And also dekliver a substantial voting bloc. Why do you think we suck up to them like we do.

That explains the attack on Gaza. Drive all who remain out. Clear prime sea front property for Madoff and family!!!

Why are his contributions to Israel not being revealed and why weren't ALL his assets frozen/siezed as they would have been in a drug case??

How do you figure his wife had anything to do with this? Does your wife go to work with you and know everything you do?

Ruth Madoff worked as his secretary. Do you know any secretary who is also the boss's wife who doesn't know what's going on? And just how is it she earned $62 million dollars as a secretary? Who are you kidding? Only yourself.

She was definitely complicit. I'm sure the terms of the plea deal will include immunity for her. She will also get to keep all the assets in her name. Don't worry folks, karma will take care of them both, even if the rest of society doesn't. Their lives will be hell from here on in, regardless of the fact that they live in a multimillion dollar home and drive a Bentley or two. They will be too embarrassed to show their ugly faces in public and will go into seclusion - just watch! They may not have any physical wounds from their experience, but their mental wounds will end up killing them both.

Save some for Ruth and her two boys. How does Ruthie earn $62 million working as hubby's secretary? Madoff was a bigger and smarter crook than anyone gave him credit for. He always knew his day would come and he was more than prepared for it. He will never give back all of what he stole from others. And, what's worse? This ballsy little ass could care less who else lost their entire retirements so long as Ruthie got her vacations, diamonds and lives like a Queen with to son princes. Sucks for us .....just not for the Madoffs. Special classes of people get special class treatment when it comes to the law.

I really think all of you need to STOP HOLDING BACK and tell us what you really think.

I agree, none of us will ever know how deep and pervasive this scheme was and ofcourse I mean who knows, who turned a "blind-eye", who might be exposed if there was a trial.

As I said $1 billion in discovered assets out of 50-60 billion, not a bad haul for a Crook !

look for Madoff to die a month after he goes to 'jail'.

Like Irv Rubin and Jack Ruby (Rubenstein)

Madoff is lucky by the accounts of folks he swindled. It appears he did not involve any of the Russians in his scheme....they are not a forgiving bunch!

ripping off, other RICH WHITE AMERICANS, NO WAY!

What has that got to do with anything?

Exactly. Those tickets and artwork WERE NEVER HIS TO BEGIN WITH. They should have been confiscated on day one.

I'm still waiting for someone to pull a Jack Ruby on Madoff's a$$....

You got it Chris. What the hell is this POS still doing running around breathing our mostly good - somewhat "FREE" air. Sad fact is is this man will never feel the disconforts, trials and tribulations of the hard woking honest American, will never be shackled up with bubba and will NEVER be given what he deserves by our injustice system.

They expect us to respect a justice system with no justice, what if the majority of Americans demanded that they were to be respected first? The question is, how do we do this?

What if we stood up for those who are wrongfully prosecuted and swiftly punished those who deserved it? WE as in THE PEOPLE. Not the corrupt government or any of those slimy weasels we have in Washington. Not our state and local courts that are run by judges and lawyers with only self gain in mind. Not even our state and local lawless enforcement agancies. WE THE PEOPLE.

Then I guess that would put us on the wrong side of the... law?

Maybe there are more of US then THEM...

lawls, well said!

Not anymore....Fraud away to your heart's content. Just make sure you have a Jewish lawyer like Orkin who is making the agreements between the judge, also a Jew and Madoff. See any problem with the clanism of these people here?

It is illegal...well....depending upon who's committing the fraud !!

It could be legal, just ask busch and chainknee.

The government is playing with fire here. If they don't indict Madoff, they'll have to let Ebbers, Kozlowski and the rest out of jail. They stole a paltry few hundred million and Madoff gets away with this? This is not going to sit well with most Americans. The government invites a rebellion if they allow a plea deal for Madoff. The clue that he wouldn't see a day in jail was that crony judge who already postponed his case three times for one stupid reason or another. I guess it takes a while to find a way out for Madoff that doesn't drag the big cheeses into it. I'll bet Schumer and Lautenberg are on Kaopectate about now.

"See any problem with the clanism of these people here? "

I don't see any "clanism" but I sure see some KLANism.

The US government is also complicit. Face facts. Those who looked the other way for the last decade don't want him to be prosecuted because it would implicate them. Madoff donated more than $20,000 thousand to Schumer and Launtenberg campaigns. Both Jews. See anything clanish about that? Isn't that like supporting "your own kind"? Yeesh, I'll make sure I only vote for Italians and Hungarians from now on. You will never get any Jew to be a real American. Always lurking beneath their skin surface is "Next Year Jerusalem", whether or not Jerusalem belongs to them.

Ewent: You are just another racist dumb azz.

I am Jewish and I fought in a war and I am now a disabled vet thinking I was saving our freedom but come to find out I was fighting for dumb @!$%#z like you.

Not racist. I don't hate Jews. I hate what Jews do to others and get away with it. Don't pull out that raggedy old Anti-Semitic card with me. It's doesn't work. Let me tell you word for word what I once heard at Senator Lautenberg's company when I worked there. An assistant non-Jewish VP had to make a choice between two young women for a promotion. One was Jewish and lazy, came in drunk and wasn't always at the top of her game. The other wasn't Jewish. She worked her butt off and all of the clients loved her, unlike the Jewish attitude they got from the JAP. When it was time to make the choice, the assistant VP consulted about the promotion with the Jewish VP. His response? "This is a Jewish company. You know who has to be promoted." That was only the first time I heard that but it wasn't the last. The second time was when the Jewish company was being downsized. The choice was me or the JAP in the same job. Guess who remained and guess who was out of a job? If you want to lob slurs, go ahead. But, you best do so by also calling certain Jews "Anti-Gentilite". Or shut up.

ewent

I will assume your story is true. My comment is this is no different than any other small company where there is a religious group in there that has the Power. You have my sympathy anyway.

I am not anti-Jewish, but what I do believe that it is true that Jewish Americans have a Love for Israel and certainly at the very least their loyalties are divided. I personally also have a problem with that. Divided loyalties have caused this country a lot of trouble in the past and I'm sure will continue to do so in the future from many different ethnic/religious groups.

Madoff is one smart man. He knew sooner or later he'd be caught. He was prepared for it. I'd bet anything he's the reason those two Swiss banks went down and the reason Israel suddenly have enough money to destroy Lebanon and Gaza. If this government refuses to follow the trail of Madoff's money, we have no government. This is as criminal as it gets.

Count me in on that. I never believed for a minute that a relatively healthy man up and dies just a few weeks before he is indicted. Stupid Texas law allows that a man who dies before he is indicted can retain all assets which go then to his wife. Closed casket? My ass....More like a well protected government witness protection switcheroo and who knows that kind of CIA BS better than Big Daddy Bush, once the head of the CIA. How did you think Ken Lay was Baby Bush's best friend?