Marc Dreier On 60 Minutes: Why I Defrauded Investors Out Of $400 MILLION

Some men buy sports cars, some men cheat on their wives. But, during his mid-life crisis Marc Dreier decided to defraud investors of $400 million.

In a 60 Minutes segment to air Sunday, Dreier sat down for his first interview after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for an enormous -- if not quite Madoff-ian -- fraud that began in 2004. From 2004 until 2008, Dreier sold $700 million fake promissory notes and stole some $45 million from his client's escrow accounts, according to this new Vanity Fair piece.

Here, he recounts his reasoning to CBS:

"I was very disappointed in my life. I guess some people would say maybe a lot of men reach a so-called midlife crisis. I was 52," he tells Kroft. "I felt that I wanted my life to be more successful than it was and I saw this as the opportunity to do that in a very, obviously, shortsighted, foolish and selfish way. I had never done anything illegal before...but I remember being at a place in my life where I was perhaps desperate to better myself and to make a place for myself," says Dreier.

Not surprisingly, his victims aren't buying it.

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Comments

[anitaj]

Mid-life crisis? Really? How many 118-year-olds does he know?

[karma namdak]

Actually, I kind of do "buy it"! All of us act out our pain and fear in different ways, some more destructive than others. Does this guy have true realization of his folly? Only he knows that. But if you look beyond the anger at him, there is definitely a message there for us all.

[GeoLee]

/What a bunch of bull!

[mlm4420]

If he was having a mid-life crisis, he could of at least dyed the gray out of his eyebrows

[PoliticalRockChick]

I'm waiting for the guy who gets caught and say God made him do it, cause God told him to steal millions or billions from people .

These white collar thieves are like murderers. They always have some sort of excuse. I had a midlife crisis, so I snapped. I had a midlife crisis, so I robbed $400 million.

[mlm4420]

Wait for the next interview, he'll then say he's found God.

[joeyfoto]

We all know that mid-life crises can be devastating. I got a divorce, gave up cocaine and bought a metallic green Maserati..­. all of which precipitated mixed results. What I did not do was to find all the people who trusted me then run them over. Mr. Dreier offers a psychopath's stab at rationalizing the infliction of incredible suffering upon innocent investors for what was obviously a feeble attempt to compensate for his own mediocrity. I think he might have looked better, if he had not attempted to explain.

[Flavor]

Had he not gotten caught he probably would still be swindling people. In the last 10 years we have seen the most deceitful hungry for power men, that refuse to do what is right and either they kill themselves when caught or blame mid-life crises.

[research]

Greed is the most addictive force in the world. It must be regulated.

[Gernuser]

To make matters far worse, consider what the US government has actually done to fix the underlying problems? Nothing

good articles; http://iamned.blogspot.com

The government has put the same punch bowl out that got us into the mess in the first place. More debt and consumption and don't worry about paying it back. (Berbnanke= Greenspan II)

[not going2take it]

Payment by - retribution by bunga - bunga

[DomainDiva]

Men have mid life crises that cause catastrophic results for everyone concerned, why do their crises seem to always include sex and money?

[Voltage]

Couldn't he just perm his hair, leave his wife, and buy a Lexus like everybody else?

[truthmatterstoo]

Excellent post! Fanned

[Name Not In Use]

The irony is that if he had just sold $400 million in unsecured credit default swaps he would be fine.
Go figure ...

[momorune]

I can see what this guy is trying to say that he doesn't know how to communicate. He was seeking connection, joyousness, pleasure - and he thought he didn't have it because he didn't have enough money. I think what most ordinary people know about experiencing joy is a mystery to somebody like Madoff, Stanford or Dreier. Very sad.

[PhilipTaylor]

P00R BANKSTERS how are they going to cheat and steal if we are always watching!

The DEV1L made him do it! I don't mean to be Flip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qAkEA-H_zE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCruefYl3FI&feature=PlayList&p=82DD92AB0CD0CDE9&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=73