Madoff and the Scamming of America (2009)

Ripped Off: Madoff and the Scamming of America is a documentary film that was shown on the History Channel in April 2009.

It is the story of Bernard Madoff (born 1938) and his financial crime, which is often referred to as a Ponzi scheme. The crime was perpetrated for decades without being discovered and it concerned a huge amount of money, almost 65 billion US dollars. It is considered the largest financial fraud in the history of the US.

Produced by the Films Media Group, the documentary explains how this crime took place. It also shows how the financial oversight - known as the SEC – failed to intervene and stop him. Madoff was only caught because of the general economic crisis of 2008, which forced him to confess to his sons, who then reported him to the FBI. He was arrested in December 2008.

Since this film was aired in April 2009, it cannot not tell us what happened to Madoff after his arrest. I can tell you what happened: he was found guilty in a court of law and in June 2009 he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

While the focus is on Madoff, the film also has a historical perspective. It explains the origin of the term a Ponzi scheme. It is named after an Italian immigrant Carlo (later Charles) Ponzi (1882-1949), who used this scheme in the US in 1920.

Basically, you pay early investors with money from later investors. Another way to explain the process is to say that you “rob Peter to pay Paul.” As the scheme goes on, you need more money and more investors. It can be difficult to continue and impossible to find a happy ending for all involved.

Several witnesses were interviewed for the film. Here are some of the names:

** Stephen Greenspan, author of Annals of Gullibility (2008)

** Diana Henriques, reporter for the New York Times and author of Bernie Madoff: The Wizard of Lies (2011)

** John Steele Gordon, author of An Empire of Wealth (2004)

** Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Ponzi’s Scheme (2005, 2006)

** Richard Behar, investigative reporter at Forbes, Time magazine and Fortune

The witnesses are well-chosen, but one detail about the last witness is intriguing: Richard Behar is described as the author of an upcoming book about Madoff. Since the film was aired in 2009, more than five years ago, I would expect this book to be published by now, but so far there is no book about Madoff by Behar.

How long does it take to write a book? More than five years? According to information on the internet, he was commissioned by Random House to write a book about Madoff in December 2008. According to Behar’s page on the Forbes website, he is still working on it. He is certainly taking his time.

According to a post on Twitter (7 January 2015), the book will be published by Simon and Schuster. Perhaps they got tired of waiting for him at Random House, so he switched to Simon & Schuster. Who knows? Perhaps there will eventually be a book about Madoff written by Behar.

As stated above, the film explains how the financial oversight, the SEC, failed to intervene and stop Madoff. One financial expert discovered that there was something wrong with Madoff’s business long before he was arrested. This expert is Harry Markopolos, who tried several times to warn the SEC about Madoff, but they did not want to listen to him.

Markopolos is mentioned in the film. We see him testifying at a public hearing that was recorded on television, but he was not interviewed as a witness. Markopolos is the author of the book No One Would Listen (2010, 2011). The documentary film Chasing Madoff (2011) is based on his book.

Ripped Off: Madoff and the Scamming of America is an excellent documentary film. The crimes of Bernard Madoff are explained and placed in a historical context. If you are interested in the history of the modern world – in particular the world of banking and investment – then this film is something for you.

PS # 1. The Madoff Affair is a documentary film that was shown on US television (PBS) in May 2009. It is an episode of the long-running program Frontline (season 27 episode 10).

PS # 2. Madoff is a movie that was shown on US television (ABC) in February 2016. The leading role is played by Richard Dreyfuss. The Wizard of Lies is a movie that will be shown on US television (HBO) in 2017. In this version, the leading role is played by Robert De Niro.

PS # 3. Unraveled is a documentary film (from 2011) about Marc Dreier, a former Manhattan attorney, who was arrested in December 2008 for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that netted over 700 million dollars from hedge funds. In July 2009 he was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

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This is a poster for the ABC movie that was shown in February 2016:

Richard Dreyfuss plays Bernard Madoff

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