How Did Bernie Madoff Use A Ponzi Scheme

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The author depicts how a Ponzi scheme works and recounts how Bernie Madoff used the Ponzi scheme to take advantage of investors. The author states that the only reason a Ponzi scheme works is due to people’s greed (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2015). The SEC was notified about Madoff’s ruse, but individuals in the SEC neglected to fully investigate on multiple occasions, which led to Madoff being able to get away with his scheme for over 20 years. Madoff was able to diffuse the SEC and mislead individuals with his scheme by employing family and friends to keep anyone on the outside from having inside knowledge of his business. It did not matter who or what organization invested with Madoff; he was without conscience as to whom he defrauded. Eventually Madoff plead guilty and was sentenced to 150 years in prison; many employees and friends who were included in his scheme and were also convicted of various levels of fraud. This is of little consolation to the individuals and the billions that were stolen from them. The author states that the government is attempting to recover some of the funds from the fraudulent individuals and establish laws to assist the wronged individuals. …show more content…

Stanwick & Stanwick (2015) state that integrity is defined “as a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values” (p. 24). Mr. Madoff used his influence over individuals as the previous chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange to persuade individuals of his talents in the stock exchange. Madoff’s influence was used deceptively in his scheme to disarm the future investors. His influence coupled with the individual’s own greed was the underlying mixture to keep Madoff’s scheme continuing for over 20 ears. This combination of greed on part of the investor and Madoff made his fraud activities that much easier to be

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