The Wizard of Lies

The Wizard of Lies

"The Wizard of Lies" by Diana B. Henriques captures Bernie Madoff's $65Bn Ponzi Scheme

How had an ordinary man pulled off the largest swindle in history?

Did he have accomplices? Who?

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Is Madoff's crime a story of a corrupt individual? or does it betray something worse about society?

How did he do it?

A decade of lies...

For over a decade Madoff "fooled" people into believing a financial fantasy, it took Harry Markopolis five minutes to figure that the numbers didn't add up.

Read pages 4-6 of the Handout (How Bernard Madoff Did It) and answer the questions that follow.

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

Who turned Bernie into the FBI?

• Harry Markopolis

• The Securities and Exchange (SEC)

• His wife, Ruth

• His sons, Mark and Andrew

Multiple Choice

Ponzi schemes can only survive by....

• growing

• remaining secret

• having a network of involved persons

• access to superior technology

Multiple Choice

Does Henriques believe Mark and Andrew were complicit in the the crime?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Why is a Ponzi scheme the opposite of a perfect crime?

• Because detection is inevitable

• its unsustainable

• constantly requires new investment

• All of the answers listed

Open Ended

So again we ask, "how did Bernie do it?" Over 10 years of lies, an imperfect scheme, easily detected...