Posted on March 12, 2009 - by Venik

Madoff’s Confession

Since 1960s, Bernard Madoff’s investment scheme attracted thousands of wealthy clients primarily of Jewish descent. Madoff admitted defrauding his 4800 clients of $64.8 billion, which translates into a $13-million average investment for each account. Madoff’s victims were millionaires who often spent a great deal of time and money to get close to Bernard Madoff just to be accepted as clients in his exclusive investment firm.

They dined at the same restaurants as Madoff, spent weekends at the same golf club, went to the same parties, and donated to the same charities. They say they weren’t being greedy, they didn’t look for some risky hedge fund promising to double their money in two years. All they wanted was a stable 10-12% yearly return on a long-term investment. Were Madoff’s clients being unreasonable in their expectations? Of course they were and they knew it.

Only a redneck who just won the Powerball would invest his millions in a hedge fund promising a fifty percent return. Madoff’s clients were no newbs in the money game. Every single one of them had professional help managing their investments. These were not people who just happened to run into a multimillion-dollar inheritance they didn’t know how to manage. Madoff’s clientele were a sophisticated bunch when it came to making a buck, with an army of lawyers, accountants, brokers, and portfolio managers standing behind them.

They were a greedy bunch as well, but naive they were not. Madoff’s investment firm provided returns well above average and none of its openly-published investment strategies could be explained or replicated. Ever. And while some of Madoff’s more lyrical clients might have believed in the man’s golden touch, most had the intelligence and every reason to suspect skulduggery. But Madoff’s investment club was full of rich Jews making big money and nobody was going to rock the boat and it sank without as much as a splash. I feel sorry for these honest folks and I truly hope they will not have to postpone their vacations at St. Barth and Te Mahia Bay.

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