The Fraud of the Century: The Case of Bernard Madoff

Read Case 11, “The Fraud of the Century: The Case of Bernard Madoff.” Discuss the long term implications of this scandal and how it relates to business ethics.

Many people would look at the case from a perspective of Calling Bernard Madoff a fraud and suggesting that everyone should be careful in investing their money anywhere. I do believe that this is true but I also learn a lesson from the case that there is much personal greed involved here from the part of the investors. These investors wanted to gain huge profits and did not bother to ask how it was possible in the real world. Bernard Madoff took advantage of the personal greed of people for money.

The long term implications of this case are several. Anyone who sees this case, would be careful in trusting others when it comes to investing. There could be legal and ethical standards developed in the light of the case of Bernard Madoff. The legal authorities would now be vigilant in dealing with people such as Bernard Madoff. Having said all that, I don’t think so that the hunger of people to double their money is any way less than when it was at that time.

This case can be well connected to business ethics. The main thing is personal integrity and care for the integrity of others. Anyone in any organization should know that committing financial frauds to others is not a practice that has any integrity.