Impossible. The SEC just leveled a devastating fine of $33m to Bank of America for lying about the Merrill deal. Only that kind of iron-handed enforcement will keep investor's faith in the capitalist bail-out system high.
.........and some was laundered, and they can't make the claim because it was illega to begin with. How the Madoff's, any of them, are still alive is beyond me. One time this broker I knew, and this mfer was bottom of the heap, was in Vegas. Real smooth operator, and he pitched this guy and got the account. Later, the guy says, "this better work, cuz I'm not the guy to fuck with, if you know what I mean." Gulp. One of "those guys". He kept a bottle of vodka, the big one, in the manager's desk, and hit it rather frequently. Great business, no?
Because Madoff WAS one of "those guys"... Lots of indirect ties to organized crime: www.deepcapture.com
LOL. Sounds just like part Joe Pesci played in the scene from the film Casino http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Vou7yK4e8
Given not only the number but the magnitude of past financial crimes (and, no doubt, those presently underway), I think the idea has some merit. In addition to the more credible oversight, just the idea of the SEC being directly associated with the FBI would have oomph.
Heard an interesting interview recently given by one of Madoff's attorneys, Ira Sorkin. Some of the points/topics were: --Sorkin said he knew why the SEC missed this, but he could not divulge the reason due to attorney-client privilege. He made the point that the SEC is grossly understaffed and underfunded, but still, he did imply that there was some specific hole in their oversight that allowed this to happen. --Said he had been to all or most of Madoff's properties and seen Madoff's stuff, the sum total of which would amount to nowhere near the amount of money Madoff stole. I interpreted this to mean the money is squirreled offshore somewhere. I wonder if the guy who is cooperating will sing? --Was surprised by the volume and vehemence of anti-Semitic mail, including death threats. This one makes me very sad. Crooks come in all shapes and sizes. Will these ignorant attitudes never die?
This underfunded crap is the biggest load of happy horseshit since Obama said he was an agent of change. Have you ever followed the fines they get when they do go after someone and win? I can't remember the amount of time it was for, but it was in excess of several years, and they pinched GS for naked short selling. http://www.gata.org/node/4906 The fine was 2mil. GS probably made 250 million in the deal. If the SEC wasnt' in the Street's pocket and leveled the proper fines, they could have paid their own way, fianced the first Gulf war, and paid a dividend.
Nope. As long as you had no reason to believe it was stolen, the law is you get to keep it. The NY clawback law in the case of securities is an exception.