1. Case Summary Bernard Madoff was born on April 29, 1938, a native of Queen New York. His parents were Sylvia and Ralph Madoff, and they struggled for years financially. In the early 50’s his mother and father opened their finance company called “Gibraltar Securities." However, they did not have much success due to failure to report their financial conditions. Many thought the business was a front for Ralph’s backhand dealings. Bernard was content with being a plumber. Young Bernard never showed any interest in the finance business. Bernard’s interest at the time consisted of Ruth Alpern, a girl whom he took a liking to in junior high school. Bernard was also fond of the school swim team, which later gets him a job as a …show more content…
For example, both the Hedge Funds and Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme were similar because each of these scenario’s involved “ethical allegations, which lacked regulations being monitored or tracked (Donaldson, 2008, p. 405-416).” A couple of these companies were the force to close down for being affiliated with Bernard scandal. Bernard Madoff still has not owned up to his role within the Ponzi Scheme even from prison during an interview he tells the reporter the SEC could have caught him in 2001 if those looking into his case would have applied more efforts. Instead, they felt he was incapable of pulling this much revenue in without drawing attention to himself. Morally this appears to be lacking concern for others and the injustice, which can impact others lives. His moral values and ethics clearly state he do have any. I think here is a man that was selfish and saw his life as not being as prosperous as his wife, so he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps but took if further by ripping off people that he encounter. His values were similar to those of his father, but the difference is when his father refuse to believe he could not get caught, equivalent to being invisible or not held accountable for their actions. Bernard acted as though he was the head of his empire and it was alright to manipulate people and if I get caught oh well. I am glad he ended up with 150 years in prison because this will give him time to think about …show more content…
Therefore, these individuals need to be by the book opposed to cutting corners in regards to the company’s assets. Other ways of incorporating these strategies into the business sector to avoid being caught up by these investment embezzlements are to educate yourself better along with those within the corporation. These are significant elements for an investment advisor because strategies such as these specify the “bottom line,” which is to illustrate a precise amount of knowledge for financial management techniques of income that is internal and external of the business settings. Therefore, like Paul Volker, I feel that the “market needs more monitoring capabilities and financial institutions should track all funding affiliated with the corporation capacity of the company (Volker,
The siphoning of funds can occur in the income statement and capital, based on the corporate governance policies, these two areas are important where financial fraud schemes can be present. Corporate governance include policies that are framed to secure the corporation goals. It include financial goals and shareholders interest also.
Charles Ponzi was born Carlo Ponzi in Lugo, Italy. His parents were far from wealthy but had an enormous reputation which placed them in aristocracy. From an early age, Ponzi’s mother placed high expectations on him. She had hoped he would restore the family to its former social and financial rank (Zuckoff, 20).
All in all, I believe and the evidence points to the Madoff scheme taking place because of an ethical dilemma. It’s important to stand strong in your values and do the right thing because not only does that benefit you, but also it benefits the organization you are a part of and with enough ethical people ponzi schemes like the Madoff case can be prevented.
Bernard Lawrence Madoff, better known as Bernie Madoff, was born on April 29, 1938 in Queens, New York. He was a hedge-fund investment manager and the chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. Madoff who was raised in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood went on to continue his studies at the University of Alabama, later transferring to Hofstra University where he earned his political science degree. From there, he went on to study law at the Brooklyn Law School, though only for a short period of time, Madoff founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities with his wife Ruth, in 1960. Considering his many achievements to get where he was at that point in time, Madoff is known best for his infamous Ponzi scheme. His list of clients include celebrities
There are unethical leaders from almost every professional, industry, or any type of business. Corporate executives like Kenneth Lay and Martha Stewart were taken before the court for poor ethical practices. Leaders of pharmaceutical companies have been found knowing about distribution of unsafe products. Leaders at Coke Cola were found guilty of racial discrimination and leaders of cruise ships fined for dumping waste in the ocean. News reports exposed Wall Street analysts who created phony reports, made profits, and pushing worthless stocks, left citizens questioning if they should invest their money. Leaders of the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, were cited for practices of employee abuses and gender discrimination. Questions emerged in the news whether leaders of the tobacco i...
Bernard Madoff had full control of the organizational leadership of Bernard Madoff Investments Securities LLC. Madoff used charisma to convince his friends, members of elite groups, and his employees to believe in him. He tricked his clients into believing that they were investing in something special. He would often turn potential investors down, which helped Bernard in targeting the investors with more money to invest. Bernard Madoff created a system which promised high returns in the short term and was nothing but the Ponzi scheme. The system’s idea relied on funds from the new investors to pay misrepresented and extremely high returns to existing investors. He was doing this for years; convincing wealthy individuals and charities to invest billions of dollars into his hedge fund. And they did so because of the extremely high returns, which were promised by Madoff’s firm. If anyone would have looked deeply into the structure of his firm, it would have definitely shown that something is wrong. This is because nobody can make such big money in the market, especially if no one else could at the time. How could one person, Madoff, hold all of his clients’ assets, price them, and manage them? It is clearly a conflict of interest. His company was showing high profits year after year; despite most of the companies in the market having losses. In fact, Bernard Madoff’s case is absolutely stunning when you consider the range and number of investors who got caught up in it.
Charles Ponzi was born in Italy in 1882. Born to a wealthy family, Ponzi put off work as long as possible and attended college at the University of Rome. Knowing he was avoiding the inevitable and seeing no appeal in the Italian business world, he immigrated to the United States. In 1903, upon entering the United States at the age of 21, Ponzi proceeded into Canada. In 1909, he was convicted of forgery in events surrounding the collapse of the Montreal banking firm of Zrossi & Co., of which he was a member. As punishment, he was sentenced to a three-year term in the St. Vincent De Paul Penitentiary in Montreal. Released from Canadian Prison after only twenty months for good behavior, Ponzi entered the United States again on July 30, 1910. Within ten days of his release, he violated immigration laws by illegally bringing five Italians over the border from Canada. For this offense, ...
[17] Robert K. Elliot, CPA and John J. Willingham PhD, CPA, Management Fraud: Detection and Deterrence. New York: Petrocelli Books, Inc., 1980, pp. vii.
Bernie Madoff is one of the greatest conmen in history. The Bernie Madoff scandal takes the gold as one of the top ponzi schemes in America. Madoff started the Wall Street firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, in 1960. Starting off as a penny stock trader with five thousand dollars, earned from his workings as a lifeguard and sprinkler installer, his firm began to grow with the support of his father-in-law, Saul Alpern, who helped by referring a group of close friends and family. Originally, his firm was marketed by the National Quotations Bureau’s Pink Sheets.
Many organizations have been destroyed or heavily damaged financially and took a hit in terms of reputation, for example, Enron. The word Ethics is derived from a Greek word called Ethos, meaning “The character or values particular to a specific person, people, culture or movement” (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2007, p. 295). Ethics has always played and will continue to play a huge role within the corporate world. Ethics is one of the important topics that are debated at lengths without reaching a conclusion, since there isn’t a right or wrong answer. It’s basically depends on how each individual perceives a particular situation. Over the past few years we have seen very poor unethical business practices by companies like Enron, which has affected many stakeholders. Poor unethical practices affect the society in many ways; employees lose their job, investors lose their money, and the country’s economy gets affected. This leads to people start losing confidence in the economy and the organizations that are being run by the so-called “educated” top executives that had one goal in their minds, personal gain. When Enron entered the scene in the mid-1980s, it was little more than a stodgy energy distribution system. Ten years later, it was a multi-billion dollar corporation, considered the poster child of the “new economy” for its willingness to use technology and the Internet in managing energy. Fifteen years later, the company is filing for bankruptcy on the heels of a massive financial collapse, likely the largest in corporate America’s history. As this paper is being written, the scope of Enron collapse is still being researched, poked and prodded. It will take years to determine what, exactly; the impact of the demise of this energy giant will be both on the industry and the
middle of paper ... ... They had complete disregard for ethical standards that they should have looked towards when making their decisions. They allowed greed, and notoriety, to take over their basic perceptions of what is right, and what is wrong. So in conclusion, I have provided my analysis of ethical behavior that surrounded the financial events of Bernie Madoff, and the events that surrounded Enron.
Madoff only had $200 million to $300 million left to give. How Madoff got away so many years is by having many years of experience of experience of being a well-versed and active member of the financial industry. In 1960, he started his own market firm and helped launch the NASDAQ stock
Recall the tale of an impoverished man who steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. In the instance when two moral obligations collide, the only way to comply with one is to violate the other. No matter which course is chosen, the other must be ignored.”(Freeman, Engels & Altekruse 2004) Stealing and breaking the law challenges the philosophy of breaking the responsibility of caring for one’s family. Accountants need to think clearly, challenge the possibilities, understand the options, and acknowledge the consequences. The choice to steal bread will vary from one person to another, but as Christians, dying of hunger is more of a reward than a consequence. Accountants can learn from examples of people and companies who have been faced with pressing ethical dilemmas. Accountants can learn from Bernard Madoff and his $61 billion ponzi scheme that ruined thousands of people’s life savings (Freshman 2012), or Enron “circumventing the rules, temporarily changing or suspending the rules, and outright thievery to achieve his objectives” (Gini 2004). Knowledge about the past will lead people to make wise ethical decisions. The world can clearly see the consequences that these people and firms have undergone and do not want to follow in that path. There are responsible businesses, like Frito-Lays who have a major go green campaign. They have a better business by reducing their natural
In the aftermath of Enron, Washington Mutual Bank, TYCO, and World Comm these companies went against the grain of what good ethical behavior is and what their respective company’s code of ethics were. The criminal justice system has made it clear that it will not allow companies and their executives to get away with the misuse of public trust by allowing them to make themselves rich at the expense of the employee. Where these crimes are both ethically and morally wrong, the CEO’s of major corporations are being punished by a ...
Most critical to this discussion is a clear understanding of what a financial manager is and does and how his or her role aids in helping to establish the valuation of a corporate entity in today's global financial market. Quite simply, a financial manager helps to measure a company's market value and its risk while also helping to systematically reduce its costs and the time necessary to make informed decisions regarding objective driven operations. This is quite a demanding game plan for an individual and most often financial managers, in the corporate world, work in cooperation with a team of financial experts. Each member of that team perhaps having expertise in differing areas of activity, but each however, being no less expert in his or her respective area of endeavors in behalf of the corporation. The team is assembled under the direction of the officer know in the corporation as the Chief Financial Officer who today is becoming increasingly indispensable to the CEO who directs a modern model of action driven, bottom-line oriented corporate activity (Couto, Neilson, 2004). One can accurately state that the role of the competent and capable financial manager is figuratively worth its weight in gold.