Modern Day Visigoth

Bernard Madoff is a modern day Visigoth for several reasons. He is one of the largest white collar criminals of all time. In fact, he has committed one of the most elaborate Ponzi schemes, which is considered to be the largest financial fraud in history. For those who do not know what a Ponzi scheme is – it is a fraudulent investment that pays returns to its investors from their own money, or the money of other investors, rather than through profits of the organization. The scheme entices investors with large amounts of returns or unusually consistent ones. In order to keep the operation running, new investors must contribute to the cash flow. If the scheme is not interrupted by the authorities, it is likely to fall part for reasons such as the promoter vanishing, the insufficient amount of new investors, or external market factors (such as a decline in the economy). Furthermore, Madoff is a former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. Madoff is considered to be a Visigoth for his monumental greed of money, poisonous lust for control, and blunt disregard for the well-being of others. Although considered to have an Athenian education at the University of Alabama and Hofstra University, Madoff’s intentions were focused primarily on earning money. As a result, he briefly attended Brooklyn Law School, but founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and remained working for his own company. His company grew with the substantial amount of loans received from family, committees, and investors. The firm grew famous for its reliable annual returns of 10 percent or more. In order to compete with other firms, Madoff decided to use innovative computer information technology to disperse its quotes. The program that the firm tested and helped to develop became the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, or NASDAQ. Madoff later served as president of the board of directors for the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Madoff