Veterans, widows and orphans vs. momzer, ganef, meshugineh Frumm & sociopath / Madoff's victims write the judge who will sentence him Monday

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Below the body of this story from The Jewish Daily Forward aren't Comments ... but letters written by Bernard Madoff's victims to Madoff's sentencing judge, who will hand down Madoff's prison sentence on Monday 29 June.

As the story notes, much of the public has the impression that Madoff exclusively scammed the rich and famous, movie stars, entertainment personalities, and that greed and folly were elements of every victim's fate.

These letters to the sentencing judge show the actual situations and profiles of Madoff's victims. After a lifetime of hard work and careful saving, they wanted a comfortable, modest, safe retirement. They had no fantasies of yachts and private jet planes to Aegean isles.

If anyone has wondered why Vleeptron has not blogged much about Bernard Madoff until now, it's not from a co-religionist's sympathy.

It was out of concern for my health and blood pressure. I didn't want to blow a gasket.

For one thing, Madoff lives a subset of Judaism with which I have Zilch closeness or familiarity, and his Adventures are not likely to make me want to get closer to what my mother used to describe as "meshugineh Frumm" (crazy Orthodox Jews).

Theologically, when Madoff dies (Nostrabobus predicts that will be in prison; he faces 150 years), and requests entrance to Heaven by proving he has never eaten pork or Chesapeake Bay crabs, or mixed meat with dairy, I can't wait to see the vinegary expression on God's face.

Heaven, if it exists, or other Post-Mortem rewards, just don't work like that. It's not about the lobsters and the pork chops.

But in evaluating how good a Jew Madoff is, Huckleberry Finnstein is happy to defer to the opinion of Elie Weisel, survivor of several Nazi concentration camps, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The funds for Weisel's charity, and Weisel's and his wife's life savings, were wiped out by Madoff's Ponzi scam. [The full story of Weisel's opinions about Madoff is printed at bottom.]

Asked what punishment he would like to see for Madoff, Wiesel said: "I would like him to be in a solitary cell with only a screen, and on that screen for at least five years of his life, every day and every night, there should be pictures of his victims, one after the other after the other, all the time a voice saying, 'Look what you have done to this old lady, look what you have done to that child, look what you have done,' nothing else."

In fact many of Madoff's victims didn't even know their finances were involved in any way with Madoff's schemes, and had never heard of Madoff. They only learned they were ruined when Madoff confessed and the headlines started screaming.

One charity entirely wiped out when the Madoff bubble burst paid for competent private defense lawyers for Pennsylvania kids in trouble with juvenile court. Instantly Pennsylvania's minors in trouble lost their lawyers, and now wander through the court system defended, if at all, by overburdened, bargain-basement state-supplied public defenders -- lawyers at the very bottom of the legal Skill Chain.

Pennsylvania's kids will now do lots of time behind bars not because of their authentic crimes or guilt, but just because this charity can no longer pay for adequate defense lawyers. Similar stories abound throughout the USA's charity sphere.

Authentic suffering -- not just cutting back from French to New York State wine -- but diseases untreated, dashed college hopes, old women and old men having to go back to working night shifts at convenience stores just to avoid homelessness ...

What would I like? I'd like Madoff to give the money back to those he stole it from.


But where the money never existed, or where it's vanished, he can't.

And where he's hidden the money in anonymous coded bank accounts around the world, he won't.

====================

The Jewish Daily Forward
English edition
New York City USA
Wednesday 24 June 2009

Madoff’s Victims Speak Out

Veterans, widowers, parents, the elderly and the sick. They are hardworking people who believed in living within their means, saving for a rainy day and putting money aside for their grandchildren’s college tuition. From across the country, victims of Bernard Madoff’s $65,000,000,000 Ponzi scheme wrote in painful detail of their hardship and losses as they implored U.S. District Judge Denny Chin to give Madoff the maximum prison time allowed by law, 150 years, at his June 29 sentencing.

In their own voices, some of the victims wrote of losing their homes, having to go on food stamps or needing to go back to work, despite being in their late 60s, to make ends meet. Many of his victims said they were shocked by the news that they were broke. Then as the slow realization set in, they found themselves questioning their faith in humanity and coping with the emotional and physical pain that the financial upheaval has wrought.

Despite the pervasive assumption that those who invested with Madoff were celebrities, the wealthy and well connected, the messages released by the court illustrate that many of Madoff’s clients had been ordinary Americans. They had trusted him or their financial advisers with their life savings, and they asked why the Securities and Exchange Commission had not saved them from the massive fraud.

Madoff surrendered to authorities last December and pleaded guilty in March to 11 criminal charges in connection with the scheme. What follows are excerpts from some of the 113 statements written by Madoff’s victims.

-– Alison Cies

* * *

Our parents didn’t, and don’t, deserve to lose everything they saved for over the decades, and they don’t deserve to have to say goodbye to their safe, unflashy home. They never harmed anybody.… Bernard Madoff lied to, and thus stole from, my parents ON A WEEKLY BASIS, with every weekly packet of confirmation slips that he sent out. That means that he lied to them, and stole from them, 52 separate times in a single year. And, because they invested with him approximately two decades ago, that means that Bernard Madoff lied to them, and stole from them, 1,040 separate times. He deserves to stay in prison for at least that many years.

Abby Frucht
Wisconsin

I am an 80-year-old man in poor health whose remaining years have been totally devastated by Bernie Madoff. My wife and I have lost every dollar of our life savings in Madoff’s fraud scheme with no hope of recovery. We have had to sell every asset that we own in order to survive, and we don’t know how long the proceeds will last. I cannot begin to describe to you the toll that Madoff’s actions have taken on us financially, physically and emotionally…. Mr. Madoff is a ruthless and unscrupulous man with no conscience or remorse.

Leonard Forrest
Port Saint Lucie, Florida

I have personally been in contact with several victims, most of whom have lost their entire life savings. None of these people had millions of dollars invested. They were, for the most part, humble, hardworking individuals who invested prudently and diligently to provide for their retirement. I am one of those people…. I had never heard of Bernard Madoff prior to his highly publicized arrest on December 11, 2008. And I realized only after receiving Michael Sullivan’s letter on December 20 that my entire life savings had probably been lost. I am 52 years old and once had hopes of retiring with modest means. That possibility has disappeared…. Due to his egregious deeds, Mr. Madoff deserves no better than to live under a bridge in a cardboard box, scavenging for his food and clothing, living the existence which he has undoubtedly relegated some unfortunate victims to.

Robert G. Mick

I recently read a report that Mr. Madoff has hired a jailhouse consultant who is supposed to teach him how to put his best face forward during the sentencing phase. Please be aware that he (or his wife) is using our money, that belonging to the victims, to pay that consultant. This is just one more slap in the face and once again demonstrates total disdain for the victims of his massive fraud.

Michael De Vita
Chalfont, Pennsylvania

We have a 16-year-old daughter. We took her to New York three years ago to meet Bernie Madoff. He had the gall to shake her hand as we thanked him for taking such good care of our money — her college money — and all of our extended family’s money. He robbed us not only of our money, but of our faith in humanity, and in the systems in place that were supposed to protect us. Please remember his victims. Sentence this monster Madoff to the most severe punishment within your abilities. Madoff is a serial criminal.

Randy Baird

We trusted the SEC to protect us, and they failed us. At this point, we really feel like we cannot trust anyone ... I am hoping that the judicial system does not fail us, as well.

Sheila Ennis
Manhattan Beach, California

Twenty-one years ago my husband invested our life savings with Bernard Madoff. He died from a heart attack two weeks later. Shortly after I buried my husband, I met with Bernard Madoff. He appeared to be a genuine, kind man. He put his arm around my shoulder and assured me that my money was safe and I should not worry. I have to admit that I was not sophisticated in investing or finance and I trusted this kindly man ... Look at the faces of the people in the courtroom; they are a small representation of the thousands that he has destroyed. Please keep all of us in your mind when you decide the fate of this heartless human being.

Norma Hill
Armonk, New York

I am opening up my family’s financial status to anyone who wants to see it, which is incredibly humbling and humiliating after years of hard work and major philanthropy. My family’s name can be seen on buildings for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Hebrew Home for the Aged and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem ... Mr. Madoff seems to have done all he could to protect his family, while now I have lost almost everything I have to protect mine ... I had to pretend to smile when my 10-year-old daughter was around, and try not to reveal the fear that I was living with ... What gave him the right to do this to us?! He knows everything. He knows where the money is and who else is involved and is not talking, thus he shows no remorse for what he has done. For this alone, he deserves the maximum sentence. Combine that with how much suffering he has caused his investors, and it’s a slam dunk.

Caren Low
Harrison, New York

Bernard Madoff did not come forward because he felt regret for his actions. He came forward because he knew he could not continue his fraud. He came forward in his own calculating way to keep the damage at a minimum for himself and his family. While he was sitting in his penthouse apartment, waiting for a hearing with his upscale lawyer and his legal team to minimize the prison time, my husband and I had to put our house up for sale, scramble to pay our bills and try not to go bankrupt ... We cannot afford a lawyer to help us.

Florence and Richard Roth
Jupiter, Florida

Not wealthy, I am not the typical media portrayal of a Bernard Madoff victim. I live in a modest two-bedroom house, and I own one car. I was a small business owner and I worked six days a week for most of my life and funded my own IRA in order to retire comfortably. Now I am considered under the poverty level, and I do not think I can last another six months in my home ... The impact of this crime is far-reaching, and Bernard Madoff must be severely punished for a crime of this magnitude. Please take into account that Mr. Madoff stole not only money, but lives, dreams, futures and security.

Angelo Viola
Staten Island, New York

Mr. Madoff has not cooperated with any law enforcement entities to unravel his decades-old crimes. He has not cooperated in identifying other accomplices, and essentially he took the easy way out by pleading guilty, thus avoiding any cross-examination and the thorough investigation of the facts which a trial would have necessitated ... I feel I have been economically raped. Mr. Madoff has not only stolen my money; he has stolen my lifestyle and my family’s lifestyle. I recognize I will never be able to earn what Madoff stole from me, my wife and our children, and we, as a result, are sentenced to living a life devoid of our life savings and the security and comfort that provided to us…. While the popular perception has been that the victims were primarily very wealthy Jews, the reality is that most of the victims were your neighbor next door, hardworking, middle-class, tax-paying citizens. Madoff didn’t discriminate, as long as the money was green; he took it for his own benefit.

Richard Shapiro
Hidden Hills, California

I am 76 years old. I have served my country in the Korean War and have been a good tax-paying citizen. I was recommended to Madoff in 1997. I had two other investment counselors, but Madoff outperformed them every year (or so I thought), and I moved all of my money (it was in an IRA) to Madoff. I am now destitute. We had to sell our home in upstate New York at a very reduced price to avoid foreclosure. We are now living in one room in my daughter’s house in California. I cannot pay my long-term health insurance. I had to give up my car, and we are applying for food stamps. Our lives are a nightmare.

Allan Goldstein
Woodland Hills, California

My husband is 92 and I am 87 years of age, and the distress and misery and anguish his vile acts have caused deserve a severe sentence. If I could, I would charge him with heartbreak, sadness and tears.

Shirley Stone

Patricia Brown
Danbury, Connecticut

I am a widow of 81 years old. My husband and I invested our money for 20 years so we would have a worry-free retirement…. My husband passed away on April 8 after a long battle with cancer. In December, I found out that Madoff stole all of my money — I am broke — robbed by “The Madoff Gang.” Now I find that I was also robbed by my government. My husband and I paid taxes for years, and it is unlikely that I will ever get that back. Not only did Madoff steal money, but he caused the government to steal also…. Madoff victims have been portrayed in the media as wealthy and privileged individuals. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many Madoff victims are elderly individuals or retirees who were saving for the future and had the misfortune to believe in a powerful Wall Street insider who was repeatedly investigated and given a clean bill of health by a government watchdog agency named the SEC.

Emma De Vita
Chalfont, Pennsylvania

Compiled by Alison Cies. Contact her at cies@forward.com

=================

The New York Times
Friday 27 February 2009

Elie Wiesel levels
scorn at Madoff

by Stephanie Strom

What does Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor who has dedicated his life to fighting hatred and intolerance, think about Bernard Madoff?

" 'Psychopath' — it's too nice a word for him," Wiesel said in his first public comments on Madoff and the Ponzi scheme he is accused of perpetrating on thousands of individuals and charities, including the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.

" 'Sociopath,' 'psychopath,' it means there is a sickness, a pathology. This man knew what he was doing. I would simply call him thief, scoundrel, criminal."

Wiesel's charity lost $15,200,000, and he and his wife, Marion, lost their life savings. "This was a personal tragedy where we discovered all of a sudden what we had done in 40 years — my books, my lectures, everything — was gone," said Wiesel, who shared his story as part of a panel discussion on the Madoff scandal on Thursday.

He said he began investing with Madoff at the suggestion of an old friend whom he declined to name, "just a wealthy man, not in the financial business." Wiesel said, "He too lost $50,000.000."

The Wiesels met Madoff on only two occasions, he said, adding that during one encounter Madoff had tried to persuade Wiesel to abandon his post at Boston University, where he teaches the humanities, philosophy and religion, for a chair at Queens College, alma mater of Madoff's wife, Ruth.

"We must have spoken about ethics," Wiesel said. "Some learn, and some don't."

After seeing how consistently Madoff generated handsome returns buying fairly plain-vanilla securities — "He bought 100 shares of Coca-Cola and sold 500 shares of Pfizer," Wiesel said, describing his understanding of the Madoff strategy — the Wiesels decided to invest their charity's assets with him as well.

"We checked the people who have business with him, and they were among the best minds on Wall Street, the geniuses of finance," Wiesel said. "I am not a genius of finance. I teach philosophy and literature — and so it happened."

Wiesel spoke on a panel at the "21" Club moderated by Joanne Lipman, the editor in chief of Portfolio, the Condé Nast magazine devoted to business and finance.

Another panelist, James Chanos, who specializes in short-selling, or betting that certain stock prices will fall, said Madoff's investors bore some responsibility for not heeding the warning signs.

"Every checklist of responsible behavior on behalf of fiduciaries broke down here: 'we're not going to tell you what we're in,' 'you can't see where we're investing,' the statements weren't clear, the strip-mall accounting firm," Chanos said.

Harvey Pitt, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said that Madoff investors were not the only ones hoodwinked in the last several years, that investors in Wall Street firms also tolerated less-than-ideal transparency. "I really do believe that there was criminality at a lot of these firms," Pitt said, citing the different valuations that financial institutions placed on the same financial instruments.

"It's not per se fraudulent to have different values for different purposes, but someone has to look at that and figure out what was going on," he said. "These kinds of things reflect more than happenstance or carelessness; they reflect criminality."

Wiesel said, however, that spotting problems was not easy. "Remember, there was a myth he created around him, that everything was so special, so unique that it had to be secret," he said, adding that his charity's accountants had not identified potential concerns about Madoff.

He said he was amazed at the outpouring of support for his charity in the wake of the scandal. "Unsolicited, hundreds of people, literally, hundreds of people we have never known sent us money through the Internet, $5, $18, $100, one even $1,000," he said.

The Elie Wiesel Foundation will hold a benefit concert on May 26 to raise more money, and Wiesel has a book, "A Mad Desire to Dance," coming out soon.

Asked what punishment he would like to see for Madoff, Wiesel said: "I would like him to be in a solitary cell with only a screen, and on that screen for at least five years of his life, every day and every night, there should be pictures of his victims, one after the other after the other, all the time a voice saying, 'Look what you have done to this old lady, look what you have done to that child, look what you have done,' nothing else."

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