Chapter 1 Article

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/fall+they+called+Jewish+bill/1897136/story.html

Summary:

Bernie Madoff was caught of being apart of a $65 billion Ponzi scheme. People didn't really believe Madoff was a thief to the $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Famous people like director Steven Spielberg and Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel were victims of the scam. Madoff ended up with a 150 year prison sentence and he is now 71 years old. There were two books that were published named "Too Good to Be True" by Erin Arvedlund and "Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff" by Andrew Kirtzman. They both thought that Madoff's actions were shady and they didn't know when he started.

Connections:

There were many connections between chapter 1 and Madoff. Madoff fooled the investors so that his Ponzi scheme would work successfully. He used new investor's money to pay back the old ones. He would have been a very successful business man if he actually didn't scam his way. He would have become the chairman of NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) which is an American stock exchange that has more trading volume per hour than any other stock exchange in the world. It is said that he would be taking over three floors in the Lipstick Building located in Manhattan.

Personal Reflection:

I think that what Madoff did was not right. The $65 billion Ponzi scheme was just too much and he deserved where he is now. Being 71 years old and a 150 year prison sentence pretty much means he would be spending the rest of his life in jail. Cheating famous people like Steven Spielberg and Elie Weasel was pretty bad since they probably have a lot of money to sue Madoff. The books said that Madoff tried scamming a high school English teacher by giving him an oral report. It also mentioned that ethnicity, religion, class, and international borders might have been another factor to why he did that. Apparently a number of his victims were Jewish which is how he got the nickname "the Jewish T Bill".