Bernard Madoff, who has pleaded guilty to 11 charges of fraud, money laudnering, perjury and theft, faces up to 150 years in jail. And his victims want exactly that!
The New York Times reports that Madoff's victims, many of them widows and war veterans had sent 100 emails and letters to the judge telling him how their lives had been ruined by the fraudster.
Alternatively, you can read some of the statements here. Some of it is truly harrowing and heart-breaking. Read through the stuff and it hits how hard these people have been hurt by the crime. Consider this:
"We are in our mid 60s and began investing directly with Madoff in 1993 after he had been investigated by the SEC. Madoff's crime robbed us of a lifetime of savings including all of our IRA and 401K money that was regularly taken out of our paychecks over 30 years of working at our jobs as an engineer and paralegal. We are witnessing the suffering of (a) 96 year old father who has also lost everything he worked for over a lifetime and the suffering of many family members and friends who are losing their homes. Madoff has shattered both our sense of trust and well being."
"I lost $650,000, my retirement savings and my total income stream."
"AQs I now approach retirement after a 40 year career as a broadcast executive and media consultant I find myself without a penny of savings for us to continue to live on, a home I cannot sell, and a son for whom all of this was about now unable to attend college because Madoff stole his college fund as surely as he stole our future.
"Madoffs investors have been put in a position of years & generations (in my case 4) of lost investment earnings, homes, retirement, children's education and charitable contributions. My husband and I have both suvived cancer and now this huge occurrence of stress, aggravation & sadness … Do your job properly, do not let this go away with a compromised plea bargain. Set an example for the world"
"His wife, sons, and immediate family should be investigated fully to determine their complicity. The wife's assets should be seized for victim restitution and she should be made to spend the rest of her life playing bingo and eating in a soup kitchen."
Is it any wonder none will settle for anything less than the maximum?
no comment untill now