Next they should go after the janitor, window washers, cable tv provider and telephone service. They had to be on the take too. We know Bernie paid them!

Yes go after the Bank of Medici as they have no ties to anyone as shown in their past history. Good luck with these overseas entities they will outlive all of you. And to take money back from charities that took the money in good faith is also a reach and a bit cruel.

Let's face it these people thought they were special because they knew Bernie and they got burned. Let's repay everyone who made a bad investment as we all know Brokerage Houses push on the individual investor what the large(insurance companies) want to get out of. Face it people you blew it you have taken Madoff's personal assets to the well and now it is time to walk away. Chose your next advisor with a little more caution and not based on religious views.

President Obama should publicly demand that the European banks and governments cooperate fully with these prosecutions. Their standing with us is at stake!

I wouldn't trust anyone with my money that pronounced their name "made off".

I wouldn't trust anyone with my money but my own bank and employer. Seems whenever you try to get rich quicker than the old-fashioned 401k, you're taking a massive risk. Let this be a lesson to people who think they can get something for nothing.

She probably has some very powerful connections with Austrian politicians, so it's going to be difficult getting to her.

Time will tell.

If my history is correct, the Medicis had a similar Ponzi Scheme in Italy that lasted for centuries. The idea is hardly new.

I don't understand how a trustee can file an enormous lawsuit against this Australian financier but the Feds can't file charges against Australia's Assange and WikiLeaks.

Actually anyone can file a lawsuit against anyone. The Feds just have the sense not to file frivolous lawsuits that cannot be recooped. This is the reason the Gov. moves behind the scenes like in the wikileaks leaks. Our Gov. has other ways of pressuring Countries to do what it wants.

@roywilson

Correct, don't you remember when they found the guy hanging off the bridge. These schemes have been around for centuries. This Atorney needs to remember real power has other ways of reaching out to keep their business out of the public eye. And he is not that important. Obama will not step into this it would be political suicide. And it is a civil matter that does not affect our Country or it's safety.

Feds wouldn't file a "lawsuit" against Assange. Anything from them would be criminal charges.

What I don't understand is how a Trustee can find basis in law to file a civil suit against an Australian for financial theft but the Feds seem hamstrung finding laws to file criminal charges against another Australian [Assange] for property theft of highly classified stolen documents.

The trustee filed multiple claims against a whole bunch of people due to the fact that there was a time frame in which charges had to be filed. This does not mean that some or most of the suits won't be dropped but it was necessary to beat a filing deadline.

Yip- the REPUBLICANS want to give all these Criminals TAX Breaks and Exemptions, and the Democrats aren't far behind them either - its Criminals watching out after Criminals, they stick together like flys on Chit,, covering each others Azzes,,, the poor and middle class in this country don't stand a chance , unless we all go after these Criminal Bankers and their cohorts with everything we got - Guns- Rifles- Shotguns- Knives- Swords- Rope - Axes etc , enough is Enough - time to take a stand people - how much more are you goning to take, can't be a sheep all your life !!!!

What scum...we give this people all the breaks and support after WWII and this is how they repay us.

What makes Madoff any different than some Gestapo agent?

Here is a blast from the past, fits nicely here.

By the way it is a bank in Austria, not Australia, that is linked into the Bank of Medici. Thes banks probably have ties that extend into history, like back a couple hundred years or more, and I would not be surprised if this is not part of some kind of "organized" business....you know what I mean!

Friends:

Keep your eye on all of those involved with the Madoff rip-off. Watch as they all slowly and strangely seem to die of natural causes. This is what happens when you do business with the mob and are left behind as possible witnesses. It would not surprise me if some of Bernie's family start dropping dead next, like his wife or sons who must have been wise to what was up; or that CPA idiot who audited this mess for years....he had to know this was all a bunch of bull.

After everything that has been written it seems clear this was more than just a Ponzi scheme, it must have been a huge operation for money laundering dirty cash from dubious sources that would prefer to have no more investigation of this. It's amazing how the timing of the worldwide economic crash seemed to segue with the Madoff blow up, huh! A little too cute if you ask me.

Most likely we will never find out a fraction of what really happened as with all "big business" deals, legal; shady; or just out-and-out criminal, these people have enough politicians on their payroll to sweep the whole thing under the rug....the thing is the rug is starting to get some mighty big lumps under it, including the bodies of the inconvenient and unfortunate people that were involved or implicated in knowledge of these crappy deals. Wouldn't it be cool if the real world were more like movies where the good guys actually win once in a while?

Good Luck, especially all of you folks involved with shady stuff like the Madoff ripoff, trust me you will really need it before this is all over. You can't hide from the kinds of bad actors that are really behind these deals.

you neglect to include where this came from.

"the REPUBLICANS want to give all these Criminals TAX Breaks and Exemptions"

I hardly think Bernie is getting any tax breaks or exemptions, LMAO! Boy you certainly know how SLIPPERY SLOPE and RED HERRING!

You can't put someone's brain on trial. You need provable evidence.

The hell with a trial for these people...if it proven they were in on it.

A gun clip holds up to 30 rounds 1bil stolen=1clip in the firing line

But the last time someone clashed with them it sent some people to the next World. The Bank of Medici has it's other supporters.

In any church ...with $20 billion you can OWN a church/religion ! The Catholic Church can use this to pay all the abuse claims...real and imagined .

What does the Church have to do with paying off Madoff claims?

Including what might be his own gravestone. If they kill politicians and judges in Italy what chance does he have.

You're right. The investigation money should come out of the pockets of those who are looking to get the money back or the Feds should at least get recovery costs first.

Madoff and all his cronies are scum, no doubt about it - but to say things like there is no help for the poor in this country is beyond ridiculous. I know a whole lot of people in my town living on section 8 housing, welfare assistance, medicaid, food stamps and heating subsidies who seem to be doing just fine.

Thank God the trustee is looking out for the interests of the victims. What heroes! Do keep in mind that they put 10% of what they collect in their own bank accounts as their reward for being the trustee. Makes you proud to be an American.

10% plus whatever else they weasel out of it.

Rick, in your opinion is 10% a unreasonable fee for chasing after and distributing the proceeds back where they belong? I think it is, especially if that is the gross percentage amount. By the time you factor his business expenses into the picture his net return will probably be closer to 3 to 5%.

It will be alot higher than that. If he gets $20billion then 10% would be $2billion are you saying he will have expenses in excess of $1billion for recovery. That is a long stretch. It costs the same amount to file a $10 lawsuit as it does a $10million lawsuit. I don't think there will be more then $1billion in back office fees.

I think he has the same chance of getting into these foreign Govs. as the other ones do have of bringing Cheney overseas for trial.

I completely agree, some of these people lost all of their fortune. If someone receives $100,000 and the trustee takes $10,000 they are still receiving $90,000. In most cases they wouldn't have a lick of chance to recovering anything.

I like bernie's face. It is sort of a peaceful tranquility. He is far from a murderer especially a serial one. I can only have one thought-these people were sucked in by their own greed.

Oh Bernie gets 9% in a down market he's so smart. The ultimate con man. The only thing that would have been funnier is if it didn't come out until after his death.

But I can still laugh at the ultimate greed of those who threw money at him.

You can't have a con without a sucker.

True, true!

its not greedy to invest ones money. He was a respected money manager and had very solid returns. There is no difference between them investing with him and you going to your bank or trusted mutual fund company and investing with them.

Sucker born every minute............Dont care!

8.4 You have to be kidding! Does your bank or mutual fund pay 10-20+% short term returns or what ever carrot he dangled in front of peoples noses. Bernie, know doubt was a puke but please, litigation for the lack of common sense is out of control. If you invested with Bernie, you were foolish, and to the Stuart's of the charities that invested with Bernie, you are as big a puke as he and should be held accountable for your actions as well. Have we know shame or conscience.

greed greed greed greed greed greed

I THINK THAT'S WHAT MRZ IS SAYING

I don't think Bernie read that part of the Torah. Maybe he read the part that says God forgives all of their sins.

Dear bklynj: Given your take on things, to which you are certainly entitled, it would be OK with you and your concept of G-d if I sinned against you in every vile and nefarious way know to human kind? Would it also be all right if I then went father with some new innovative and original hurtful and destructive sins? Respectfully, I do not agree with your depiction of G-d as amoral, morally relativistic, or ethically ineffective. He is simply not the G-d that we would or should look up to as a role model in that case. On this point Sir, we do not and cannot agree. That said, you may be right. Thank you for sharing your views. G-d Bless. Enoch.

To both you two I believe that any god who wants you to do harm to another in his name isn't a real god but pure evil.

So when religions kill in the name of their god they should rethink their god.

@enoch

I in no way stated that God is amoral. Those are your words. I stated that he is all-forgiving as it states in the Bible. So yes God does forgive thieves and murderers. Additionally my point was that you are trying to throw religion into a manmade situation and saying God will get revenge on Madoff in the end. You speak of a sadistic God that waits in strategy for you to come so he can get even. I speak of a God who forgives when you come to him.

Additionally, my point was I don't think Madoff was thinking of any religion anywhere along his long process or ordeal in the end. Except maybe to say a few times God help me.

Dear bklynnj: It seems we not only disagree, but also are not communicating clearly to each other. I do not need to throw religion into a man made situation. The Biblical narrative is replete with evidence of the Divine Hand at work in human history. I do not speak of a sadistic G-d in the slightest. That is your misinterpretation of what I write. This is not about revenge. That is to confuse punitive with rectificatory and protective justice. It is sadistic of anyone not to hold responsible those who harm others. That leads to a break down of societal order. Righteous people need no incentive other than to do what is good for its own sake. Most of humanity is not that way. We need metrics to diagnose the difference between right and wrong. Being a frail and non-perfect species, we need laws and to be held accountable so that we do not stray from the path of righteousness. If not, there is insufficient motivation not to harm others for personal gain for those most in need of such motivation. It is sadistic to allow injustice. Neither have I said, or do we disagree that G-d is always willing to accept, and looks forward to sinners repenting, and choosing of their own free will to improve their lives. Signs of true repentance are allocution of guilt, confession of sin, plea for forgiveness, making whole those one has harmed, to the extend practically possible, and taking steps to insure they don't recommit such sins in the future. G-d is not fooled. G-d cannot be conned. We are not talking about going through the motions to play G-d, or manipulate Him. I do agree with you that Madoff is not a religious person. Further, that he was not acting out of a love of G-d or fellow man when he ripped off charities which do so much good for those in need. I see no sign of genuine repentance on his part. All that said, I am going not to continue to respond in this or any other threads with you. That is not any sign of disrespect for you, or the views you articulate and hold. You are obviously a person of deep conviction, who is thoughtful and cares about society. I applaud you for that. I encourage you to continue on in your pursuit of the truth, and its application for the betterment of humanity as you see it. My time, at my age and in my professional situation is limited. It doesn't to matter to me that we frequently disagree. Rather it is twisting my words, for what ever reason, and your attempting to instruct me on Tanach, my Scripture, which I see no evidence you have mastered that makes me decide to use my time elsewhere. In this my last post to you, I do wish you only good in your quest. All best regards, Sincerely, Enoch.

I would ask Elliot Spitzer to head up the SEC with the power chop heads!

Spitzer, That's it...put a cheater in charge of another Gov. Agency...what are you smokin' dude?

rick-2062402 You didn't even read the article. The people in the article that helped Madoff are not citizens of the U.S. They are in Europe. You need another forum for your class warfare that you have absorbed from the social losers.

rick-2062402

You really think illegal immigrants are costing the taxpayer less? Let's see, shall we take a look at the basic math? A series of recent audits have place the actual and realized losses at between $13 and $20 billion, lets assume the higher estimate of $20 billion; now lets take a low side estimate of the number of illegal immigrants within the confines of the U.S., say 10 million (although many experts state its between 11 and 13 million, but lets keep the math simple); now if you divide 20 billion by 10 million you'll end up with a paltry $2000/illegal. you mean to tell us, your readership, that an illegal alien costs us, the taxpayer less than $2k for their entire existence? It costs more than that to pay for one year's education for one illegal student in primary school. Forget about factoring in social services or entitlements government programs; or the costs involved with enforcement, litigation and adjudication when they, the illegals, are caught committing a crime (other than being illegal) on U.S. soil.

Now lets step waaay outside the box. Some have claimed that the Madoff losses approach $60-65 billion (that would include fabricated gains and profits that never existed therefore were not truly lost); even using 60 billion as a starting point, divided by 10 million that is still only $6k/illegal alien...the Madoff losses are cumulative for a lifetime; the illegal costs far exceed that amount every year for the illegals time spent in the U.S.

Funny how that new math they are teaching now works. Do you count beans for the U.S. government?

rick-- i propose that the people who think 99weeks of unemployment compensation is not enough, pick my fruits and veggies......legaly!

better check your facts. Illegal immigrants have cost this country way more than 19.6 billion. If the government gave housing subsidies and SSI benefits to AMERICAN workers that worked as "fruit and veggie pickers" then AMERICAN workers would be able to support themselves working that profession but they would rather give our money,thats right it is our money, to people who are not citizens and here illegally while cutting benefits and programs for AMERICAN citizens just makes me sick.

And if Dan Rick and Native knew anything about the subject they were expounding on, this would be a discusssion.

traffikr,

Care to expand? What is it you think that the above posts have no knowledge of? They are nothing more than factual rebuttals to false assertion made by rick-2062402.

Please, by all means enlighten...

jeez "your mom always says"? she sounds like a real boring person-my grandpa always says "those who do no good are no good doers"!! hows that one ding-a-ling!!

Actually, they say Madoff has adjusted very well as he nows feels a personal peace that it is over.

I hope a huge dude named "Bubba" is giving him a personal piece myself...

Your grandpa was right surg. I'll bet he is real proud of you.

I hear Bernie's having the guys deposit their cigarettes with him.

@mike

Sorry there is no Bubba. There is a Carmin Persico and the guy that's in for spying against the Country. I think you can be sure Persico will protect him as long as certain lessons are taught to friends of his.

I think the biblical saying, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to make it into heaven." is appropriate in this case...

But at this point no one is poorer than Bernie in his sense. I think what really bothers people is he is not openly contrite.

Why would he be contrite? He lived the life of Reilly for decades at the expense of people who should have known better, and when he was finally 'caught', it was to serve as a Judas goat for the much more numerous, but non-Jewish, thieves who are still running loose.

Contrition? It's probably all he can do (for the sake of his family) to keep from laughing out loud.

But all the investors called themselves clever when they read their monthly statements and bragged they knew Bernie.

I feel sorry for none of them.

Maybe it was you, of course, maybe we started at 15, and worked 20 hour days. I can tell you though, we did it real quiet like and didn't buy a lot of flashy trash. Now we have a certain income, and needn't worry.

Rich people.. AND a whole bunch of charities. Hundreds in fact. Still don't care?

No don't care anymore we have been ripped off so much in my life time that I have just decided not to care.

Then you'll continue being ripped off.

No Mike not just me you too. In fact we all get ripped off daily. You just don't pay attention maybe still too young and filled with those ideals that you though you could change the world or continue to fight the good fight.

They never told you that you would be the only one fighting it.

You don't know what you saying, anyone who had an investment was taken by this and the stock market. Maybe even you if you had a 401k, you notice I said had, because you probably don't have one anymore with any money in it.

A lot of these people were not RICH people, they were everyday people like you.

Not to mention Scott, that saying stupid things like that just proves that the liberals have done a very good job of getting schmucks like you to buy into the idea that anybody who has $5 more than you is not only "rich" but is worthy of nothing but contempt because they ARE "rich", that rich people don't deserve to keep their money, and are in fact terrible people and it's OK to rob them.

I find it harder and harder to believe that "rich" people "work" for their money. As the case with Mr. Madoff and ones like him. They steal from people that work, they do not work themselves. I hold all dishonest people in contempt, rich or poor but there seems to be a greater majority of them among the rich.

I'm so tired of the poor little rich kid crap. My whole family from several generations back to today have done nothing but work and work hard for what we have. The only difference between my family and a family that has millions is greed. Morals don't mean anything anymore. Helping your neighbor makes you look like an idiot. Please tell me, how am I and the rest of the middle class schmucks? Just because we haven't lost our moral compass doesn't make us less deserving than that person who you say has $5 more than us.

having money doesn't mean you are greedy it just means either you or your parents where good with money. People that are middle class have been adequate with money and those that are in the lower echelon are lousy with money. it really is that easy. there is no reason for anyone born in America to be less than middle class. Yes there are set backs, sicknesses, accidents and other disasters but for the most part a disciplined savings and spending plan along with a desire to earn an adequate living should be enough to get through the average american life with a little something.

onepoker,you are soooo out of touch with the real world that it would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic!

good answer - nope still don't care - I say Good, they ripped somebody off at one time,, now the shoes on the other foot !

When the Feds can build an actual case against them.

Well,one just commited suicide - let's see what the other does.

and we need the Democrats with their 2 headed monster Bubba and Hilary Clit-non to protect the wonderful unions like the Teamsters and Longshoremen so their members can get $ 100,000 a year driving a truck ! That cost is pass on to you, so that every thing that comes into this country costs 30 % more that it should have.