Victims lash out at Madoff sentencing

Excerpts from statements made by victims of Bernard Madoff's financial fraud. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday.

"I was introduced to Bernard Madoff 21 years ago at a business meeting. ... I now view that day as perhaps the unluckiest day of my life. ... This beast who I call Madoff. He walks among us. He dresses like us ... but underneath the facade is a true beast. ... He is an equal opportunity destroyer." _ Sheryl Weinstein.

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"The man sitting in this courtroom robbed me. ... He discarded me like road kill. ... Forgiveness for now will have to come from someone other than me." _ Miriam Siegman.

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"He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in-between. He had no values. ... His was a violent crime without the use of a tangible weapon. ... My life will never be the same. I am financially ruined and will worry every day about how I will take care of my wife." _ Tom Fitzmaurice.

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"I can remember the exact second my wife told me the news. ... The fallout from having your entire life savings robbed from right under your nose is like nothing you can describe. ... In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence." _ Dominic Ambrosino.

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"Life has been a living hell. It feels like the nightmare we can't wake from." _ Carla Hirshhorn.

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"Bernard Madoff should no longer be let back in society." _ Michael Schwartz.

Comments

[MadamePJBailey]

MADOFF, MOZILO, & IBM’S CEO PALMISANO -- COMMON MISDEEDS ?

VISIT -- ibmTheWidowMaker com

[TownCryor]

I feel like the comments of the victim are inappropriate. It's not like Madoff killed anyone. IN a video of one of the victims you find that he is upset because he was planning to buy a condo in florda as a second home and now he cannot. I don't feel like this guy deserved to wish death upon the person he thinks is responsible for not getting a condo. The victims knew they were taking a risk when the gave their money to bernie. Everyone of them is pissed that they can't get the absurd returns on their money that they used to get.
Frankly, the line between legal and ilegal financial practice is as thin as as a razor's edge.
my site: http://www.ficry.com

[BKearney]

One greedy rich guy stole money from a bunch of greedy rich guys, Gordon Gekko was wrong greed is NOT good. But really what do I care I'm going to work now to earn my daily bread.

[johnnyrocket]

These so called "victims" are generally well off folks, who wanted to skirt the general investment system themselves, and get 12% guaranteed return for life.

That's not innocent investing, that mild complicity with their extra "mad money".

I don't feel for most of the investors at all, they fed a shaky system, they get bitten by it.

[fredgladys]

I would like someone to clarify for me. My understanding of Ponzi schemes is that the early investors receive very high returns and if they are in the scheme long enough may recoup their entire investment. Those who come in at the end of the scheme also receive high returns for a shorter time until it all goes bust.

There are a lot of complaints from the investors, it would be interesting to know how much those same investors got back from Madoff during the life of the scheme.

[schatsie]

Look at it this way, these shmucks lost 50 billlion dollars that they had to invest..... The auto industry workers could have been bailed out entirely for 50 billion let alone the 700 billioin and unknown trillions for the federal reserve,,,,,,, and that would have saved millions of jobs.....but no, the money had to go to Wall Street bankers to sustain the rape and pillage of the middle class.....

I will not believe Obama means change until the tax code is fixed and 95% of the rich are audited and 50% of the charities (I mean really The Heritage Foundation is a 'charity). and the companies are audited and personal expenses that are written off are limited to the median income....Why should they get to write of personal jets to the tunes of billions and billions every year, the jet, the fuel, the maintenance, the insurance, the pilot and we get nothing to write off.....

Thanks to the last 30 years of the Republican Regime, this country is no better than Russia with the Oligarchs OR the communists...

[PoliticalRockChick]

I can't understand how these so called victims are now wondering what happened to the SEC. These rich so called victims I bet you majority of them were Rethugs who believed the government should not oversee corporations, should not ask for transparencies, keep everything in corporations and financials firms private. I'm glad this happened. This shows the world how when you allow a company investing in people's money and not have a check and balance system, you inevitably will get ripped off. I don't feel sorry for any of those folks who invested directly to Bernie Madoff. They thought they were better than everybody else due to their exclusivity. I'm sorry but if they were getting 15%-20% and they didn't ask questions then it's their fault.

[EvilCartman]

always remember to read the fine print

[weebils]

lol. All those Ivy League educations and yet any street hustler would have known better.

[pfrogger]

he stole from the poor? really?
and the in-betweens? you must have a different idea of what those mean, because I don't see the poor or in-betwwens making enough money to invest.
he ripped of rich people. and these weren't generally the really rich, just lower level rich.
you see the part of America that these people haven't really seen is the real poor. or the middle-class family barely surviving, month to month. they don't have any money to invest, at all.
they're living on the very edge. of course most of these people don't care. they walk by the poor and hungry and don't pay them a second glance. all the while rationalizing their guilt by saying that poor people wouldn't be poor if they worked for it.
Sorry I don't feel sorry for these people. they've been living it up, while the rest suffer. they've enjoyed some great years. well it's time to see how the other half lives. it ain't pretty.

[weebils]

Good post.

[RabidRightRebel]

When Madoff defrauds the wealthy using a ponzy scheme he is sent to jail for 150 years.

When banks defraud the poor using preditory lending schemes they are sent $800 billion in government support.

Is it just me or does this seems unfair somehow?

[CologneCitizen]

It is part of the system.

People need to have a real person to put the blame on, a bank is too abstract for this.
Remember last September, Paulson demanded 700 billion dollars with no accountability right on the spot and it did not seem to bother the American people. Later when the auto industry wanted 30 billion dollars, there were numerous discussions if this would be right or wrong.

[Kog]

I think there are quite a few wiser investors who have already reaped far and away juicy profits from this ponzi thing. If you are one of them, please creep out of your lair, speak up and say so.

[Indra]

I have enjoyed the humor. Madoff was a genius crook but not evil. The people he stole from were wealthy people with bad attitudes anyways. Nobody cares about them. The victims need to get over it and go for job retraining. Millions of people get bilked out of their life savings each year. It's just that they do not have as much and nobody cares much about them and we don't hear about it. I feel more for the elderly woman who gets bilked by a house siding salesman who takes her for her life savings more than I care for these Madoff victims. Karma is karma isn't it?

[elsellel]

Yeah, and how much dough are you poor poor folks left with after Madoff's scam (which, btw, you should've know - gambling by any other term is still gambling; moreover when it's high risk).

I don't care if Madoff took many of you fat-cats down to liquid assets of only $1 million. That's still a lot more money than 99% of the rest of the world population will ever have access to in their lives.

Welcome to the real world. No violins playing sad music at my house tonight.

[skymuffin]

Sorry to say, but welcome to the real world...

[booboo111]

Hey! Stop complaining and start your own scams.

[weebils]

lmao