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Bernard Madoff By The Numbers
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 11, 2009
Modified Mar 11, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 11, 2009
Modified Mar 11, 2009
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With swindling investor Bernard Madoff set to plead guilty tomorrow, here's a numeric summary of some interesting points:
- 11: The number of charges Madoff faces; here's a PDF outlining the charges, which include securities fraud, mail fraud, and investment adviser fraud.
- 150: The numbers of years he'll face in prison, if found guilty of all charges.
- 70: Madoff's age.
- 64.8 billion: The amount that investors were told they had in their "investments" and "earnings." Of course, this includes those fake earnings; last week, one estimate of the real money in Madoff's fund was $20 billion.
- 35: The number of labor union pension plans Madoff took from (about $10 million).
- 13: The number of years that investigators believed Madoff did not trade at all. In other words, he kept collecting money and "producing returns" with new clients' money.
- 46: The percent of return some investors were told they could earn if they invested with Madoff.
- 20: The number of people who may face indictments for their involvement in the scam; Lucinda Franks writes in the Daily Beast, "Sources say new information has surfaced that suggests several members of Madoff’s inner circle transferred assets to their wives, transactions thought to be laundered through an English bank." Additionally, a source tells Franks (who is married to Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau), "There should be at least 20 indictments, between the three groups, if the feds are doing their jobs. Some will be conspiracy, the ones who were deep into it with Madoff, and others will be civil cases sent to the SEC for prosecution.” These people would include not just wife Ruth Madoff but his sons and other relatives.
- 4,800: The number of Madoff's victims—so far.
- 4: The number of Central Park benches named in honor of Madoff's parents and his wife's parents. A person told the Post, "They should rename them after the families that have been affected by" the fraud.
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Bernard Madoff
fraud
ponzi scheme
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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