Should The Beneficiaries Of the Madoff Scandal Be Punished?
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Without a doubt, Bernard Madoff’s investment scheme did financial and emotional damage to all of his victims and whether his sentence does justice to the people he hurt is still up for debate. Now we question whether the people who directly [and indirectly] reaped the benefits of his scandal should have any repercussions for being affiliated with Madoff.
Ruth Madoff
The recent media coverage of Ruth Madoff have forced her to be accountable, to a certain extent, with the assets that she is in possession of due to the funds that Bernard Madoff had illegally acquired. As of last Friday, June 26, she has dropped her claims to $80 million in assets. Even after doing so, she is still under pressure to give up a remainder of whatever is left.
Ashamed of her husband’s deceit, she seems to want to mend the situation as soon as possible. With the victims of the scandal seeking redemption, they’ve turned to condemn Ruth for Bernard’s action although she appears to be innocent and unaware of what was going on.
Even with her willing to drop claims to a majority of her assets, should she be entitled the keep the rest? The victims would deem her as a partner in crime because Ruth has a part of their money and they want it back. If your spouse fed the family through unlawful activity, should you and your children be responsible?
The Biggest Winner
As investigators dig deeper, they’ve found a long time investor who truly received benefits that exceeded those of Madoff’s. The Picowers family is the alleged biggest beneficiary of the Madoff scandal. Although there seems to have been fishy activity, the Picowers have made large charitable donations to foundations and institutions. Will there be a lawsuit against the museum or the education center because their funds can be traced to the scandal?
Certainly, those directly involved should have consequences and they should lose whatever money they obtained through any illegitimate method but the victims of the Madoff scandal are on a relentless pursuit of any money that could possibly be returned to them. Next we’ll have to ask, how can you fairly return the money to the many investors if doing so is even possible?
These many questions won’t have definite answers but this event is a thought-provoking situation and readers should take the positions of both parties to understand but not to judge.
Photo credit: clementine gallot and sabeth718
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