Businessweek: Madoff Says It Was A Risk Victims 'Well Aware Of'

Journalist Ann Woolner, in an article for Businessweek, called a spade a spade -- or a Madoff a lying thief would perhaps be more appropriate. The article's title says it all: "Madoff’s Credibility Ends When His Mouth Moves."

The article reads: "Bernard Madoff didn’t arrive on the front page of the New York Times this week with a reputation for shining the bright light of truth into the shadows that shroud wrongdoing.

"He lives in a federal prison because he lied for years to trusting friends, charities, educational and religious institutions, thousands of investors and at least some family members. He bilked them of $20 billion.

"You might expect that having almost two years in prison to reflect, after learning of the suicides, the heartbreak, the financial devastation he left in his wake, Madoff might have used his first newspaper interview to express gut-wrenching remorse, perhaps fling his soul onto the mercy of those he hurt.



"Instead, he said of them, “I would have loved for them to not lose anything, but that was a risk they were well aware of by investing in the market.”

"The fact that they weren’t investing in the market is why Madoff’s in prison. He concocted mountains of phony paperwork to trick them into thinking they were, and that they were doing quite well at it.

"As for risk, it’s safe to say he never informed them of the risk involved in putting money into a Ponzi scheme."

He complains, as the article notes, about the 150 years he was sentenced to -- I only wish he could live that long.

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