All along Bernard L. Madoff has said that he acted alone. Perhaps, his statement is an example of his ego at work, trying to protect his wife and family from prosecution or perhaps Bernie has begun to believe the lies he told others. To date, Ruth Madoff has not been implicated although among many suspicion looms large.
Maybe, it was the $5.5 Million Ruth withdrew from the couple’s account on November 25th and the additional $10 Million withdrawal on December 10, 2008 that has some of us raising our eyebrows.
The wife of Bernard Madoff withdrew more than $15 million from an account linked to the accused swindler in the days before his arrest, Massachusetts authorities said on Wednesday, adding a new layer of intrigue into the probe of the purported $50 billion scam.
Ruth Madoff pulled $10 million on December 10, the day before her husband was arrested and charged with running a global investment fraud, and $5.5 million on November 25, according to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin.
I suppose we could believe that the first $5.5 Million was withdrawn to give “the missus” a little spending money for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when most shoppers hit the stores. And, maybe the little lady needed a few million more to finsih up her holiday shopping when she withdrew the $10 Million two weeks before Christmas and a day before Bernie was presented with his first pair of official handcuffs.
Bernard Madoff continues to state that he acted alone in the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
Legal experts, however, have said they are skeptical that such a massive fraud could have been pulled off by one person.
Federal prosecutors, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, various state authorities and a court-appointed trustee liquidating the Madoff firm are all investigating.
Well, they aren’t the only ones who are skeptical. No one man could possibly have pulled off such a scheme without someone noticing, if not participating. If anything, it is rather noble for Bernie to accept the full guilt for the scheme… but no one believes it.
Additionally, it seems rather odd that Linda Thomsen, former Chief Enforcement Officer for the SEC, after having appeared twice in recent weeks to testify before Congressional hearings suddenly resigned only a day or so after her second and last appearance. Her testimony amounted to nothing more than a waste of time as almost every question met the same response… some jibberish about not being able to speak about an ongoing investigation.
It seems that the SEC was taking a look at itself as culpable, or at least having in its employment ranks a team member that had turned his head a time or two. This is not to point a finger at Linda Thomsen by any means. Having watched her testify before Congress on both occasions, one would question her ability to take part in an ongoing scheme and we certainly know she had no ability to detect one… even when Harry Markopolos laid it out in black and white in front of her. But, somewhere inside the SEC there is at least one person who made the decision to divert any attention from Bernard Madoff’s illegal activities and dismiss Harry Markopolos as a nut case.
But, back to Ruth Madoff. Everyone always says the wife is the last to know. But, let’s face it… if Ruth was smart enough to withdraw money while the accounts were still open and in such large amounts, Ruth was smart enough to know there was a Ponzi in the Madoff scheme.
Clearly, if no one is indicted in the Madoff scandal other than Bernie, we will know that the old boy still had enough cash tucked away to buy a good chunk high end justice. In the meantime, to turn a phrase used by Harry Markopolos, Bernard L. Madoff remain under penthouse arrest.
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