The Starr Report
For the younger members who don't know or the older guys who can't remember, Kenneth Starr was the lawyer who tried to get Bill Clinton impeached a little over a decade ago. America obsessed about Bubba and Monica, with Mr. Starr as the ringmaster who enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame as much as anyone.
Today, we get news of another Ken Starr. Kenneth Ira Starr, that is. Dubbed "mini-Madoff" by the media, Mr. Starr is the investment adviser (arrested on May 27th of this year) accused of bilking his jet set clientele out of over $59 million dollars. If you recall, Starr was found hiding in his closet as the FBI kicked down the doors, claiming that he thought "it was a home invasion".
Facing 20 counts of wire fraud and one each of securities fraud, money laundering and fraud by an investment adviser, Mr. Starr is seeking release from prison on a $2 million bond. Oh yeah...he faces as much as 445 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
For a list of Starr's high profile clients/victims, go here . As much as I don't condone fraud or theft in any way shape or form, I have to say that anybody who picks Jacob the Jewelers pocket has a Robin Hood-ish flair to him.
Now this guy's nothing to me, personally..but again I feel that I have to reiterate the point (just like with Madoff) that the "victims" in this case were already filthy rich people who believed they were entitled to superior returns, simply because of their status. If you go around waving a handful of Benjamins, expect Puff to come through and snatch'em at some point.
I'm not saying send them to jail, but let's drop a line or two on the idiotic behavior that seems to follow our famous people, who have become the modern day equivalent of court jesters, while self aggrandizing them selves like inbred nobility.
They are the true monkeys, my friends... dressed up in ballerina outfits, rolling around on roller skates. I for one, never consider them victims when someone takes their silver bananas and mushes a handful of chimp turds in their George Foreman grills.
I love the WSO analogy by the way. Midas, you have a point that the 'victims' aren't victims at all. It's not as if Grandma and Grandpa were throwing away their savings to Madoff...it was filthy rich people to begin with who lost about 2% of their wealth so now they can't afford to buy that new Bugatti - bummer.
Weren't a significant chunk of Madoff's victims charities?
You're just being stupid and ignorant here. As previously stated, a large part of financial investors with Madoff were institutional (banks, pension funds, charities). It is indeed Grandma and Grandpa who lost to Madoff, along to some private wealtch clients.
Thanks Alan. Simple life lessons. If it's not earned the hard way, it'll go the easy way.
"If it's not earned the hard way, it'll go the easy way." like it
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