the anatomy of pure evil

Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced Monday to 150 years in jail for masterminding an “evil” multibillion-dollar investment scam that cheated thousands of people around the world.

“It is the judgment of this court that Bernard Madoff should be sentenced to 150 years in jail,” Judge Denny Chin said as he handed down the maximum term possible on 11 charges of fraud, theft and perjury.

He described Madoff’s crimes as “extraordinarily evil” and said it was “not merely a bloodless crime that takes place on paper but one that takes a staggering human toll.”

The tough sentence came even after Madoff, the former chairman of the Nasdaq, made a courtroom apology to his victims. “I am sorry,” he told them simply. “I don’t ask for forgiveness.”

“I leave a legacy of shame to my family. I am responsible for a great deal of suffering and pain. I live in a tormented state,” said the disgraced 71-year-old financier who now faces spending the rest of his life in prison.

Judge Chin gave Madoff 10 days to appeal, but noted there had not been a single letter from friends or family testifying to his good deeds. “The absence of such support is telling,” he said.

Madoff’s wife, Ruth, finally broke her silence Monday to lash out at her husband, saying: “All those touched by this fraud feel betrayed; disbelieving the nightmare they woke to.

“The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known all these years,” she said in a statement.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs weighed in later by saying the maximum sentence handed to Madoff would send an effective warning to other investors.

“The judge wanted to send a very strong signal to anybody that invests money on behalf of others of the amazing responsibility that they have to those investors and to the country,” he said, adding “that message will be heard loud and clear.”

Prosecutors say about $13 billion was handed to Madoff. The financier himself has talked about losing some 50 billion dollars, which is believed to be the amount that would have been paid out had the funds been properly invested.

Among Madoff’s victims were Hollywood and international celebrities, several of the world’s bestknown banks and Jewish charities, some of which were forced to close after the scheme unraveled.

The funds were then used to pay out “dividends” to investors in what is known as a “Ponzi scheme.”

One lingering issue is how to return the stolen funds. Of the billions of dollars that were lost, prosecutors say only one billion has been recovered. (manila times)