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Bernie Madoff Essay

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Bernie Madoff Essay
1. What is the ethical issue involved in the Madoff case?

The Madoff case if filled with numerous ethical issues. The case is considered to be the largest scam in our nation’s history. The Madoff case is a great example of how someone who did not care about his profession, as well as the all the personal relationships he had cultivated over the years. Bernie Madoff was involved in a scheme called a Ponzi scheme. Madoff would take money from new investors to pay off the current investor’s dividends. Since Madoff promised unrealistic gains this was the only way to pay his investors. The Ponzi scheme was Names after Charles Ponzi who had tricked investors about a century before Madoff. To keep giving earlier investors their promised return, Madoff had to continually draw new people into the scheme. His family who claim they did not know about the scheme was also involved bringing in new clients to invest with Madoff.
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Do you believe that Bernie Madoff worked alone, or do you think he had help in creating and sustaining the Ponzi scheme?
As intelligent as Bernie Madoff may have been he could not have pulled of the country’s largest Ponzi without some help. The return on investment that constantly beat market averages should have sent up red flags to people inside the company. People within the company such as internal auditors, accounts and other in the internal system should have been really suspicious of the finical reports. Were the people in the Madoff’s office asleep at the wheel? Or was something else not publicized happening behind the scenes? There were just too many intelligent people who worked with Madoff not to see the writing on the walls. Auditing books for a couple of months may not have sent up red flags but the fact the scheme went on for 30 years may say more people were involved. The size of the scheme and the amount of money involved makes it unbelievable and almost impossible that he could have perpetrated a crime by

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