From Bayside to Flushing to Howard Beach, Bernard Madoff has left his mark on Queens, swindling millions from some, thousands from others.
But on Monday, June 29, when Federal District Judge Denny Chin brought down the maximum sentence on the now-infamous ex-financier – after what many are considering the largest fraud in financial history – there appeared to be little if no vindication felt throughout the borough.
“So what?” said Bayside resident Irwin Cantor, a self-proclaimed “senior senior citizen” who said he lost seven figures in the global Ponzi scheme, in which Madoff paid bogus returns to certain investors out of the principal received from others.
Cantor disregarded Judge Chin’s sentence of 150 years, adding, “Today meant nothing.”
“What meant something was 12/11” – the date in December 2008 when Madoff was arrested – “when we heard about it and what we’ve had to do with our lives since,” Cantor said.
In Cantor’s case, adjusting in the wake of Madoff’s admitted $50 billion fraud has meant canceling his country club membership, cashing in on an insurance policy to decrease his mortgage payments, going out less frequently and keeping track of “nickels and dimes you didn’t think about [before],” like turning off the lights.
“One of my goals was to leave my kids a few bucks and now that’s gone,” Cantor said, stressing that despite his immense losses he considers himself lucky. Some of his friends – “I’m talking about 75-year-old guys, 78-year-old guys, 80-year-old guys,” he said – lost everything they had to Madoff and have gone back to work, one of them taking a job as a store security guard.
“I have friends who literally, literally, all they had left was what was in their checkbook,” Cantor said.
Across town, Ann Casalotti, of Howard Beach, was quick to admit her losses paled in comparison to those of people like Cantor, but she nevertheless admitted to feeling the effects of Madoff’s pyramid scheme.
“I lost $25,000, which is not millions, but to me it’s as much as that,” Casalotti admitted, noting that the money she lost would have someday gone to her mentally challenged daughter.
Yet, Casalotti emphasized that she thought Madoff’s sentence was overly harsh.
“First of all, he’s 71 years old. Twenty years would’ve been enough,” she said. “How many times do you want to kill this guy? I guess I’m not that vindictive,” she added with a laugh.
What Casalotti cares about, she said, is compensation for Madoff’s victims, and she noted that she feels sorry for his disgraced family.
“I hope that everyone could get most of their money, if not all of it, back,” she said. “Where did this money go?”
The whereabouts of Madoff’s “investments” – the money that did not materialize in the form of luxuries like his yachts and French villa and payments to earlier investors – is under federal investigation. And the question of whether or not any conspirators remained to be prosecuted appeared to be answered on Tuesday, June 30, with the Associated Press reporting that authorities are pursuing charges against 10 more people in the scandal.
Any money that is recovered will eventually be divided up among Madoff’s victims, according to reports. Additionally, some people who invested directly with Madoff will qualify for up to $500,000 in payments from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
So-called “indirect” investors – whose 401(k) and IRA managers lost money to Madoff – are not covered under SIPC, however.
On the day of the landmark sentencing, some people, like Olga Krakauer, were still perplexed as to why such a “really smart man” felt the need to beat the system and fool his investors.
The Floral Park resident, who said she began investing with Madoff at least 15 years ago, would not divulge how much money she lost. But Krakauer was clear about one thing – that the judge’s 150-year sentence was not necessary. She felt sorry for Madoff, she said.
“What are they trying to prove?” Krakauer asked with overt disbelief. “He’s caught in a fraud and nobody’s denying it. You think anybody who’s gotten hurt is going to feel any better or get their money back?”
Krakauer’s sentiment echoed that of Cantor, who called Madoff’s sentencing “ironic.”
“You plan your life ahead,” Cantor said, referring to the comfort zone he was in before Bernard Madoff became a household name last December. “Wednesday evening [the night before Madoff’s arrest], I felt very comfortable. Thursday, 12/11, I suddenly found that, whereas before I didn’t have to worry about spending my money, I was suddenly saying, ‘I have enough money to live my life if I die tomorrow.’”
“So it changes your whole attitude,” he said.
