Bernard L. Madoff, the infamous Ponzi schemer who stole tens of billions of dollars from investors, has begun pointing fingers. In his first interview since his arrest in December 2008, Madoff told The New York Times that certain unnamed banks and hedge funds were "complicit" in his fraud. "They had to know," Madoff said. "But the attitude was sort of, 'If you're doing something wrong, we don't want to know.'" Irving Picard, the trustee who's trying to recover the funds Madoff stole from victims, is suing JP Morgan Chase, among others, for failing to stop the scam. Does Madoff's statement help make that case? (Watch an AP report about Madoff's accusation)
Yes. The banks likely knew all along: While I'm reluctant to accept the word of a "liar, a thief and a con man," says Alain Sherter at BNET, I don't find it hard to believe that the banks who dealt with Madoff "knew something was fishy, but chose to look away." After all, that's in line with the "prevailing ethos during the financial crisis." The entire industry was caught up in a "daisy-chain of willful ignorance."
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