Madoff Convinces Judge

In a recent AP article, Rachel Beck, an admired columnist of mine, wrote a justification that Bernie Madoff, the investment advisor who is alleged to have bilked thousands of people from billions of dollars, should not be put in jail while awaiting trail. She claims that putting Madoff in the slammer would inhibit him from cooperating with officials who need to obtain information from him.

Today, it seems that Roland J. Ellis, magistrate judge for the Southern U.S. District of New York agrees with Beck, though perhaps not for the same reasons. In a 22-page report, the judge rebuffed federal prosecutors who claim that Madoff poses a flight risk and that the current conditions of his release do not protect the safety of the community. The prosecution wants Madoff in jail now, not in his apartment.

Both Beck and Ellis are wrong and curiously naïve. Their logic does not take into account the vast scope of the crime which Madoff is alleged to have committed. He doesn’t deserve the privilege of hiding in the luxury of his multi-million dollar Manhattan digs, while people accused of much lesser offenses sweat it out in jail.

Always Look Behind the Veil

The photo of Bernard Madoff in this weekend’s edition of the Wall Street Journal may be one of the most revealing examples of the time-tested adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” The picture shows a frontal face shot of Madoff who is alleged to have bilked hundreds, perhaps thousands of people and organizations out of $50 billion. You might think his photograph would look like a mug shot, but it doesn’t – that’s the surprising part.

Indeed, the veneer of Bernie Madoff’s face gives the impression of someone you might instinctively trust. His features are soft: the eyes deep, but not hard; the emergent smile, welcoming. He sports unpretentious spectacles and a round, almost jovial visage that emanates no sign of deceit. All those features are topped off by a blue baseball cap covering a head of silver. The photo gives off the air of an informal personality. The guy might just as well be your own grandfather, he looks so first-rate!

However, if the allegations brought against him prove to be true, no one would trust him any further than they would a recidivist, child-abusing relative nestled in the middle of a family get-together sprinkled with innocent children.

This phenomenon brings up the age-old question that comes up in such situations: Why? No one but Madoff can explain what happened. Even though his investors should have been wary of returns that were consistently too high in both up and down markets to be credible, there is something else: People want to trust other people. Despite all of the mendacity in the world, trust, properly applied, is still one of the essential oils that lubricate the operation of a viable society.

The fact that so many well-trained empty business suits, bureaucrats, and elected officials have taken advantage of that human attribute is the main reason why our economy is now in the tank.