One of the biggest financial frauds, if not the biggest, is Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Even though Madoff's fraud was uncovered only about a decade ago, it seemed this story has long been forgotten. This fraud story has been brought up again in recent months, when some drew comparisons with FTX collapse and SBF's crypto schemes. I have heard about Madoff investment scandal when Bernie Madoff was arrested and it was the main news topic. However, I never dived into learning the details of this fraud scheme. When I recently saw new documentary series on Netflix titled - MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street, it caught my attention to find out more about this story.
I can't tell if MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street docuseries is good or not yet. Because it was boring and I couldn't even finish the first episode. There must be a movie made about this story, I thought. Sure enough, I came across HBO's original movie - The Wizard of Lies. The movie is available on HBO Max for subscribers. It is also available on various platforms to rent or buy. I chose renting it on Youtube for $2.99, instead of renewing a subscription on HBO Max for $14.99.
Robert De Niro stars as Bernie Madoff and does a great job as usual. Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Ruth Madoff and she too plays the role well. All actors in the movie did a great job, and the quality of the movie excellent. It is entertaining, emotional, and keeps viewer engaged. The movie also serves as an education material regarding the Madoff story and makes the viewer ponder upon the state of the financial and investment systems. One thought that never left me throughout the movie is How is it even possible? That is to pull off such massive fraud for many years.
Spoiler Alert: The following content may contain spoilers. If you haven't watched the movie yet, and do not want to see spoilers please stop reading here. Feel free to come back to share your thoughts after watching the movie.
Since the movie is based on real story, you may be familiar with main events already. I know how movies based on true stories don't always present the exact events and may add or omit important details. However, I have no reason to believe that this movie wouldn't present events as they factually happened.
As the entire Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme is a sad story that ruined many lives and caused hardships for many families, the movie is a sad one as well. Not only Madoff's fraud caused financial and emotional damage to its victims, it also ruined Madoff family as well. Mark Madoff, one of Bernie's sons ends up committing suicide.
What this movie is able to deliver that news outlets wouldn't be able to do is to show the human side of Bernie Madoff and what may have motivated him to be involved in such a fraud, as many have described as evil. It is not that easy to come to such conclusion about Bernie Madoff after watching the movie. There is no doubt, these fraudulent actions resulted in pain and death. And calling such actions as evil would fit the description of evil. However, without looking into the personality of Bernie Madoff, the reasons he chose to create such a Ponzi scheme and defraud many we may not be able to see the full picture.
Robert De Niro does a great job in playing the Bernie Madoff's character and giving a human face that may have found himself in a situation that lead the beginning of the fraud. De Niro also does a great job showing Bernie side as a father, husband, and a grandfather. The movie also briefly goes into psychological state of Madoff and how he might have rationalized and perhaps created an illusion of a successful businessman, respected investment expert within the financial industry.
One of the things I have learned about Bernie Madoff from the movie is how he was a chairman of NASDAQ, and chairman of numerous other organizations in his career. He was also in a short list for head of SEC? This is crazy. How is it possible to pull off a Ponzi scheme fraud within a financial system with strict regulations? How is it possible that a fraudster like Bernie Madoff was able to gain high reputation within the investment and financial industry, trusted with large sums of money, and leading organizations.
Bernie Madoff ends up pleading guilty to 11 federal felonies and sentenced to 150 years in prison. It seems based on how the story is presented in the movie, if Madoff chose he could have continued his scheme for a longer time, and perhaps until he died. But he was tired of it and decided to turn himself in. As he is trying to move some money around, write some bonus checks, and finalize things, he decides to reveal the secret to his sons. When his two sons learn about this fraud, they are shocked. They seek legal advice and are told that they need to inform the FBI or they might be considered aiding the fraud and find themselves in legal troubles as well. So, they do inform FBI.
I am sure there is more to the story and one movie may not include every single detail. But The Wizard of Lies does a great job presenting the main events, and make the viewers wonder how many more frauds are going on right now. Does SEC and other oversight agencies actually do their job in making the system work and protecting the investors? Or is it just a big illusion.