The Strange Case Of Bernie Madoff

The biggest financial fraud in history continues to slowly unravel in an unusual way. The strange case of Bernie Madoff becomes only more bizarre with each passing day.

This strange case actually started with Bernie Madoff outing himself. As a result, there is no sense in talking about the $50 billion dollar Madoff Ponzi scheme as an "alleged" fraud, when the main allegations about the crime actually come from the person who will eventually be the defendant in the case.

Soon after his arrest, Bernie Madoff's bail was set at $10 million dollars with the requirement of 4 co-signers on the bond but Madoff could not get four people in the entire world to sign his bail bond.

So, he did not meet the conditions of his bail. However, his punishment for not making bail has certainly been strange. Madoff was not sent to jail but only confined to his palatial apartment at 133 East 64th Street.

As a result, its very odd that while the U.S. Congress and prosecutors sort out the greatest financial hoax in history, the mastermind of the Ponzi Scheme continues to enjoy a life of luxury made possible by his fraud.

Its also strange that while the government searches for an accounting of $50 billion missing dollars, that Bernie Madoff has the ability to continue to access personal records and computers that may become important to the fraud investigation.

Madoff's Ponzi scheme ripped off widows and orphans, philanthropies, rich people, global banks and hedge funds. It is strange that one man managed to steal $50 billion dollars for decades from some of the most sophisticated financial people and institutions in the world within the confines of the regulated environment of financial investments.

Certainly, it is strange that starting in 1992, federal regulators on at least eight different occasions examined various aspects of Bernard Madoff's business operations and never turned up anything about the $50 billion Ponzi scheme that led to Madoff's arrest last month.

Bernie Madoff showed up last week at a bail hearing wearing a bullet proof vest. The bail hearing was called because Madoff was in violation of a condition of his bail agreement not to dispose of any of his assets.

Sadly, it was discovered that sixteen watches, including diamond-encrusted timepieces from Tiffany and Cartier, four diamond brooches, two sets of cuff links, and an emerald ring were sent to Madoff's sons and brother. The value of the jewelry was estimated to be more than one million dollars.

The result of the bail hearing once again did not send Bernie Madoff to jail. He was again ordered to return to the comfort of his $7 million dollar penthouse apartment. Even though it may be hard to believe, this story is not bad fiction. Unfortunately, the strange case of Bernie Madoff is reality TV.

CCTV Can See But Nobody Is Watching

There are estimates that there are 500,000 surveillance cameras around the city of London and that an average Londoner is seen on camera 300 times each day.

In fact, there is estimated to be more than 4 million surveillance cameras throughout the United Kingdom, with about 1.5 million closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) in city centers, train and subway stations, airports, and major retail areas .

However, despite spending billions of dollars on surveillance cameras, a recent report by the Police Chiefs of the United Kingdom concluded that only 3% of crimes were solved by CCTV.

So, what happened to make CCTV such a bad investment? Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville, the officer in charge of the Metropolitan police unit provides an answer in his speech at the Security Document World Conference in London as follows:

"CCTV was originally seen as a preventative measure. Billions of pounds have been spent on it, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. It's been an utter fiasco: There's no fear of CCTV. Why don't people fear it? They think the cameras are not working."

Of course, the security cameras are working but it is very expensive to hire CCTV operators that have to endlessly look at all those security screens. Placing security cameras in millions of locations is one thing. Monitoring all those locations at all times by human beings in real time is another thing indeed.

Spending billions on security without any real return in the United Kingdom has not stopped New York City from following in their path. More than 3,000 new public and privately-owned cameras will be in service in the city by the end of this year.

Meanwhile new advanced CCTV cameras which try to 'predict' if a crime is about to take place are now being introduced on Britain's streets. The cameras can alert operators to suspicious behaviour, such as loitering and unusually slow walking.

However, as seen through the experience in the United Kingdom, there is no evidence that expensive security cameras act as a crime deterrent. In addition, few crimes are actually solved due to the hard work involved in retrieving images from the system. Certainly, it is not money well spent, if the police are not properly trained and the system is not useful in the prevention of crime.

The truth is that all these expensive CCTV security cameras have not made us much safer. Our personal privacy concerns have not yet been realized. This is because CCTV can see but nobody is watching.

A Complex Mix Of Italian Politics, Sex And Religion

Here is a sample of some of the news of the day from Italy. It is an interesting and complex integration of politics, government, sex and religion.

Silvio Berlusconi, who owns Italy's three main commercial television channels and as Prime Minister also wields influence over RAI, the state broadcaster, has often been accused of using his media power to muzzle his critics and satirists.

In the past, Berlusconi has frequently been the target of jokes from Italian comedian Sabrina Guzzanti. Ms. Guzzanti still remains upset about the media's suppression in 2003 of her late night show RAIot in which she satirised the Italian Prime Minister.

Several months ago, Ms. Guzzanti joked that Pope Benedict XVI would go to hell and be tormented by homosexual demons. In Italy, a joke in bad taste about the Pope can also be a crime. Guzzanti is now being prosecuted by the Berlusconi government and if convicted is facing a prison term of five years.

Of course, politics may well be at the heart of this matter since Berlusconi has been trying to win favor with the Vatican and the Catholic vote since returning to power last May. Last weekend he accompanied Pope Benedict to Cagliari in Sardinia and attended mass there.

Meanwhile, Father Antonio Rungi, from Caserta near Naples, has just announced that he is cancelling "Sister Italia 2008" which was due to start on his blog next month. The online beauty pagent contest for young nuns was cancelled due to a flood of abusive emails and he has just taken down his blog.

Also, consider that the controversy of the crucified frog continues to rage. An art museum in northern Italy said that it will continue displaying a sculpture portraying a green frog nailed to a cross that has angered Pope Benedict XVI and local officials.

In August, the pope had written a letter to Franz Pahl, the president of the Trentino-Alto Adige region that includes Bolzano, denouncing the sculpture. It "has offended the religious feelings of many people who consider the cross a symbol of God's love and of our redemption," Pahl quoted the pope as writing in the letter.

The news of the day in Italy. It is certainly a complex mix of politics, government, sex and religion.