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Comparing Bernie Madoff And The Ponzi Scheme In The US

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While many people associate Ponzi schemes with pyramid schemes, as they do share some similarities, they vary vastly. They are both type of investments that promise extraordinary returns with very low risk, which is always a tell tell sign of fraud. While they are both actually just feeding existing investors with contributions of new investors, one is actually running a “business”, while the other is just shuffling money around.

Ponzi schemes are based on fraudulent investment managements. So essentially investors invest money to a "portfolio” and then promised a very high return (usually with little to no risk), and then when those investors want their money back they are paid back with the new funds contributed by the latest investors. The person usually in charge of the Ponzi scheme is in control of the entire operation, with no extra levels or middle men. These “managers” simply transfer funds from one client to another and never actually make any real investments. The investor is not aware of …show more content…

Bernie Madoff ran one of the largest (if not the largest) and longest-running Ponzi scheme in the United States. The website BusinessInsider.com says Madoff made off with about $20 billion of investors’ money. He was very well-known and trusted in the financial industry. He even started his own investment firm in 1960 and helped start the Nasdaq stock market. He promoted his investment “profolio” to be highly exclusive, and even required a recommendation from a friend. He even kept the “intrest rate” of return at 10% to be more believable. But once the housing market crash occurred, tons of investors became nervous and asked for there money back. With $7 billion dollars of pending buy outs, and Madoff only having about $300 million there was no way Madoff could cover his fraudulent portfolio. He now is serving 150 years in prision due to his fraudulent

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