Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for orchestrating a $65 billion ponzi scheme.
It may be the maximum possible sentence, but is 150 years in prison really sufficient punishment for Bernard Madoff?
After swindling unknowing investors out of hard-earned money in a $65 billion ponzi scheme, it goes without saying that 71-year-old Madoff should – and will – spend the rest of his days behind bars.
The disgraced financier said Monday at his sentencing that he “will live with this pain, this torment, for the rest of my life.”
As he should. Many of Madoff’s victims were robbed of their life savings, which shattered their credit and postponed long-awaited retirement.
According to CBS News, as of June 11, 2009, more than 8,000 investor claims had been filed against Madoff. If Madoff did in fact victimize 8,000 investors, he was only sentenced to one year in prison for roughly every 53 victims. How would you feel if the man who took your life savings was technically spending less than a week in prison for what he'd done to you?
Sure, Madoff's assets have also been seized, but most of his clients will never even begin to recover what he took from them. While there is the obvious question of how people believed this fraudster in the first place, we can’t forget that the former Nasdaq chairman had earned himself quite a prestigious reputation and even had clients such as Steven Spielberg and Sandy Koufax.
It’s hard to determine if the “torment” Madoff feels stems from remorse or is merely devastation over his punishment. One thing is for certain, however: his victims’ tax dollars will be paying for his keep in prison while they struggle to earn back all that he robbed them of.
Something still just isn’t right.
