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As Bernie Madoff, the man behind one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history, was sentenced yesterday to serve 150 years in prison–the maximum–his victims in Colorado were hardly satisfied.
Former congressman and Republican candidate for president Tom Tancredo, who lost $1 million in a Madoff scheme, jokingly suggested a different sentence for Madoff (pictured): “I think I probably would’ve sold tickets and let the highest bidder come beat him up with a baseball bat and then divide up the money among all the people that he stung” (via 9News).
Conservative talk-radio host and Denver Post columnist Mike Rosen didn’t hold back either, telling his newspaper, “I would have handled the sentence a little differently, such as waterboarding him in order to have him divulge where the money’s hidden.”
But it wasn’t just the big-wigs who were caught up in the scam–artists, teachers, farmers, and doctors were too. Jack Cutter, an 80-year-old former petroleum engineer from Longmont, had to get a job as a butcher in a supermarket for $8 an hour after he lost his retirement savings in Madoff’s $64 billion swindle: “It’s a tough job,” he tells This is Money. “Eight hours on my feet.”
Many people in Colorado were linked to Madoff’s actions, including Boulder-based Agile Group (via 5280). The Denver Post has a list of Coloradans who were Madoff clients.
Meanwhile, Boulder County Business Report publisher Christopher Wood notes other financial busts throughout the state. “Is it just me, or does the Front Range have more than its share of financial fraud, investor losses and other shenanigans?” he asks.
Posted 6/30/2009 at 3:15 pm by Michael de Yoanna
Crime, Money, Panorama, People :: Permalink :: Comments (1)
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