Plea Allocution Of Bernard L. Madoff [PDF, via WSJ]
Archive for March 2009
Madoff Pretty Sure Scam Began In 90s, Though Those Were Heady Days, And Who Can Really Remember
By Bess Levin
So, we love ourselves some Boy Toy CEO Jamie Dimon. That’s a given. But for all the talk yesterday of how we’ve gotta stick together and do this and quit the bitching, the JPMorgan chief still managed to get a little “suck it” dig in himself, directed out our favorite midwestern hedge fund, and the disloyal JPM’ers who’ve up and left him for it. During the Q&A section of his address to the US Chamber of Commerce, after being asked (circa 3:50) about threats to smaller banks, the D-man said he’d prefer to go back to a previous question about compensation, and the problems it poses re: employees peacing.
“People ask, ‘Where are they going to go?’ The good ones will always have somewhere to go…the good ones will have a job,” J to the D told the audience. “The last thing I want them to do is go to our hedge fund competitors, who don’t have those [compensation] restrictions. I find that a little offensive, by the way.” Reference to this li’l catfight? Greg Boester knows the answer to that.
Earlier: Citadel Takes The High Road (And Your Employees)
Greg Boester Straw That Broke JPMorgan’s Back, Caused Bank To Stop Trading With Citadel
For all the anger and vitriol directed at Wall Street, finance and financiers, things haven’t gotten to the point where violence is more than a passing concern. Not so, we fear, elsewhere in the world.
A Greek militant group threatened in a statement published Thursday to continue its bombing campaign, saying recent attacks against Citibank were in response to the international financial crisis.
The Pontiki weekly newspaper published a statement from the Revolutionary Struggle group, which claimed responsibility for a failed car-bomb attack Feb. 18 on Citibank offices in Athens and a bomb attack Monday on a suburban Citibank branch that caused damage but no injuries.
Bad news: Citi a target of terrorist organizations because of complicity in financial crisis.
Good news: Terrorist organization can’t seem to bat more than .200 against southpaw Vikram Pandit.
Greek terror group: Citibank attacked over crisis [Yahoo Finance]
Circa NOW.
But will he be spending Passover in the pent or in the big house? We need to know now, damn it! Also: one victim has stated he wants a trial, and we kind of do too. And a televised chase in a White Bronco.
Update: Larry Kudlow wants to know if we can apply “capital punishment” to the situation, ’cause “this guy’s a financial terrorist.”
It should come as no surprise for anyone to learn that we aren’t any great fans of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, except insofar as she provides entertainment value while she struggles in front of the microphone to appear well versed in matters financial. (She is on the House Committee on Financial Services after all). Be this as it may, we find the timing of today’s Wall Street Journal piece on the Congresswoman’s conflicts of interest curious. Says the Journal:
When Rep. Barney Frank was looking to aid a Boston-based lender last fall, the Massachusetts Democrat urged Maxine Waters, a colleague on the House Financial Services Committee, to “stay out of it,” he says.
The reason: Ms. Waters, a longtime congresswoman from California, had close ties to the minority-owned institution, OneUnited Bank.
The piece goes on to outline the many bits of potential self-dealing and conflicts of interest Waters and her husband have been laboring under with respect to OneUnited, and stirs up some older ethics issues, just in case anyone had forgotten.
Be this as it may, why bother?
First of all, we wonder, who among us finds any of this this even remotely surprising? Second, the bank pulled down a puny $12 million in TARP funds. Really, who cares? There is no such thing as being “guilty of a conflict of interest.” One simply has a conflict, or there exists the appearance of a conflict of interest. Congresswoman Waters has, so far as we can tell, dutifully disclosed these various pieces of business (shabby though they may be). What remains to be seen here?
Waters Helped Bank Whose Stock She Once Owned [The Wall Street Journal]
According to Ponzi Boy, the “businesses run by [his] brother [Peter] and sons [Mark and Andy] were legitimate.”
Per CNBC, whose David Faber reamed a victim earlier for not holding any “rancor” against the Master, Madoff has stated: “I operated a Ponzi scheme for many years. I am grateful for this opportunity to speak.* Deeply sorry and ashamed. I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done. Victims of my fraud include individuals, charities, pension and hedge funds.”
Update: The above sounds pretty contrite and sincere, doesn’t it? That’s how we took it but the bit about how he did it cause he felt “compelled to meet investor expectations”? Oh, did you Ponzi Boy? Did you feel pressure? Our favorite midwestern hedge fund manager probably felt some pressure too, but did he start a Ponz (that we know of)? No. He took his 50% in losses like a man.
*I can’t get a word in edgewise these days without Ruth shouting “You shut your mouth when you’re talking to me. You got us into this, you imbecile. And take out the trash! Oh wait, you can’t leave the house. Idiot.”
That is just a lot of fuss over a simple lost vowel, we know- but this was no ordinary vowel. General Electric’s third “A” in this case. The platinum and diamond encrusted antique letter, which had been worn ceaselessly by the old girl since the Eisenhower Administration, was reportedly stolen and silently replaced in the middle of the night with some poor excuse for a lowercase “T.” As if no one would notice or something.
Strangely, senior employees at CNBC have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own cash to organize a search for the missing piece, while Starbucks has announced it will be accepting GE options issued as part of employee stock options programs in lieu of their much-in-demand “10% of any latte beverage” coupons.
One of our tipsters points out that Henry Kravis has been secretly lusting after the letter for years and openly speculates that, even as you read this, the big HK is leaning back in a massive leather chair and pressing a concealed button under the arm which subdues the lights and opens a secret panel on the far wall to reveal the carefully illuminated missing letter. We aren’t going to find it at any of the usual fences, our tipster laments.
General Electric Loses S&P’s Top-Level AAA Rating [Bloomberg]
Bunking with Bubba tonight? Stay tuned.
A gaggle of “investors” ripped off by Bernie are set to air their grievances during this morning’s hearing (t-10 minutes!), telling US District Judge Denny Chin whether or not the court should a) accept a guilty plea from the defendant and b) whether or not Ponzi Boy should be remanded or released back into the wilds of house arrest. We’re prettay prettay pretty sure what they’re going to say but! Perhaps this’ll have the now-destitute individuals changing their tune.
Our travel spies on the posh island of Anguilla report that Kamique — a boutique sea-front development — is now offering a “Madoff” discount on their four- to six-bedroom villas.
Investors who’ve lost cash with Madoff can tan away their sorrows thanks to 20 to 30 percent price cuts at Kamique (above) if they can prove their losses. Only one person needs to have been swindled for the entire booking party to enjoy!
Reserve up to seven nights and rates are reduced by 20 percent; over a week at they’re cut by 30 percent. The deal comes on top of Kamique’s already existing “economy-appropriate” prices: Eight person/four-bedroom villas start at $2,450 per night; 12 person/six-bedrooms villas from $2,940 per night.
You can thank him later.
