Bernard Madoff conned even the most sophisticated of clients, such as Fairfield Greenwich Group, through a simple tactic whenever he was asked probing questions: He refused to answer or he lied..

Source: Bloomberg  News

Date: 4/03/2009

Keys: Investing, government, regulation, ethics, law

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=asYX4sfz1XhY

Questions for discussion:

• What lessons did you learn about risk and investing from this article?
• What roles should government regulatory bodies such as the SEC, play in these situations?
• Who is to blame for the losses incurred by investors?
• What threat of punishment would deter others from conducting such a fraud in the future?
• Is this a worse case of fraud because of the massive size of the funds lost?