June 30, 2009

Finally Madoff gets his "return" on "investment"

Madoff, the infamous ponzi-scheme fraudster gets 150 years in prison for duping investors of billions of dollars. Its a welcome news and given the fact that the sentence was handed just a few months after the discovery of the fraud is commendable. But i think the punishment is still not enough. Look at the age of Madoff. He is already 71 and has enjoyed his life all these years "fooling" innocent investors. Given that he will probably live for another 10 more years doesnt make the number 150 attractive anymore. Capital punishment would have been harsher and more suitable for this fraudster who ruined the lives of so many investors and bought immense shame to the financial world and investment profession in general.

While Madoff should be subjected to the harshest punishment, the case should be an eye-opener for the investors all over the world. They need to always read the fine print of any investment plan before investing even a single penny and be skeptical especially about schemes that advertise "guaranteed returns" or boast of "excellent performance even during bad times". Time and again investors have fallen prey to such obviously suspicious schemes. These might be the red flags for the next scandal as well......