FRAUD CASEBOOK

Bernie Madoff

Read the following articles or other related articles regarding the Bernie Madoff case and then answer the questions below:   Please be sure to include citations and references where they are utilized. 

Sources: 

Jason Zweig, “How Bernie Madoff Made Smart Folks Look Dumb,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2008.  

Zachary Goldfarb, “SEC Broadens Its Probe of Failures in Madoff Case,” Washington Post, January 6, 2009. 

Short Answer Questions 

1.What type of fraud scheme did Bernie Madoff commit? 

2. What was Bernie Madoff’s monthly average return to his clients? 

3. How long did this monthly average return last? 

4.Describe the demographics of Bernie Madoff’s customer base. 

5.How was Madoff’s scheme discovered? 

6.Did anyone attempt to inform the regulators about Madoff’s scheme? If so, who? 

Discussion Questions 

1. In general, would you define Bernie Madoff’s clients as sophisticated investors or naive? Why? 

2. Whether you described Bernie Madoff’s customers as naïve or sophisticated, what trait(s) allowed his clients to become victims? 

3. Why wasn’t Bernie Madoff’s scheme caught earlier?