Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street

Peter McGinn

I have seen stories about Madoff big fraud before, but this four-part series is a fairly definitive look at the history and process of his super scam. It features interviews with many of the insiders on his team, as well as a lot of his victims and watchdogs who tried for years to alert the authorities. To protect the reputation of Wall Street perhaps, it always seemed to meMadoff was presented as a guy who set up this increasingly large ponzi scheme to provide security and wealth for his family and close associates, but this docuseries left no doubt in my mind that Madoff was a psychopath, who ultimate;y cate only about himself. His efforts to bring wealth to his inner circle was, as one person involved put it, due to his wanting to be admired and depended upon, not because he was so magnanimous. Ironically, in the end, though everyone had a nice rid while it lasted, he only succeeded in destroying his family and all their lives, to say nothing of the myriad of victims who lost some or all of their money and ability to trust others. It highlights the difference between white and blue or no collar justice. Clearly he didn’t suffer enough in the end and the financial community and the government entities overseeing them all were cheapened and made to look foolish in their extreme greed. The series should serve as a warning to the financial world, though it seems likely they will merely make different mistakes out of their zeal for money next time.