Say the name Bernie Madoff and you will get a response, but it may not be a good one. And for good reason. Madoff went from hero to zero in short order. For years many of his unwitting clients viewed him as a sort of financial guru or wizard. Millionaires, rock stars, actors, in fact anyone that was someone had their money invested with Bernie Madoff. Well if you've been watching the news you already know that was nothing more than a fraud. He was recently convicted of stealing billions (yes, we said billions!) of dollars from his victims and was handed down the maximum sentence for his crimes, 150 years. Courtroom observers noted that when Madoff was sentenced both cheers and jeers went out from among the crowds gathered inside to hear the courts final decision.

Now the very people who once praised him for his investment savvy hate him for what he has done. Madoff had the very best lawyers defending him but the evidence against him was just too overwhelming. When the trial began he appeared to be a mere shadow of his former self. As onlookers in the courtroom observed, he was now lacking the charm, wit and slickness that made him who he was. His victims will not soon forget the fraud was perpetrated upon them by an individual with him many of them had invested their life savings.

There's another side of this story however that few people want to address, that of the victims actions. While we at the law offices of Freedland and Russo are sympathetic to the plight of the victims, we believe that they, in a small way also have to take some personal responsibility. Hear us out. There is an old adage that was taught to us by our parents that says, "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is”. It is difficult for us to understand how vigilant people would assume that the high rate of return which Madoff was promising was legitimate. Perhaps he appeared authentic, or maybe it was testimonials from other "trusted" clients that caused some of the victims to hand over their money without due diligence. Whatever the reason, there's a lesson in this for all of us. We all must take personal responsibility for our actions and research the validity of the claims by any company or any person that is seeking to sell us a product or service.

There will always be people like Bernie Madoff in the world who are preying on the trust, greed and carelessness of others. How do we protect ourselves? Hold the perpetrators accountable and do our research. Both of these steps will go a long way it helping all of us stay on the right track.