I know very little about the case but would you venture to say that he is guilty on all the accounts of fraud wagered aganist him?
J. Tucker wrote about it here: http://mises.org/daily/3546
He pleaded guilty. Apparently to eleven counts including: “securities fraud, investment advisor fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, false statements, perjury, false filings with the SEC, and theft from an employee benefit program.”
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/madoff-arrives-courthouse/
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/read-bernard-l-madoffs-guilty-plea/
I’m not an expert on the case, but as I understand it he basically told people “you give me some money now, and I may or may not give you a lot more money in the future.” If he had signed a contract saying “I will give you X amount of dollars at such and such a date” and didn’t live up to that, he’d be guilty of fraud/contract violation. As far as I know, he never made any such promise, and the people who invested their money with him simply didn’t do their due diligence. I don’t think he’s guilty of anything.
No, he took people’s money and promised to invest it. He then turned around and spent it instead. That is as clear of a case of fruad as you could have. I don’t know how you could say he’s not guilty of anything.
Those central planners at the SEC did a fantastic job.