Bernard Madoff Apologizes

Before Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday, the maximum possible sentence, for perpetrating Wall Street's most brazen investment fraud, the disgraced financier turned to face the victims who had just excoriated him to apologize.  He had heard himself described as a "beast," an "animal" and a "lowlife."

What he also faced was the limit of apology.

Was there anything he could have said that would have begun the process of redemption and the possibility of reconciliation? 

Maybe. 

After the victims had their say, the 71-year old Madoff stood up from the defense table to acknowledge the damage he had inflicted and apologize.  He said that he committed the fraud on his own.  He did not name any accomplices.  He did not promise to help victims regain the investments entrusted to him.  What he said was this: 

I'm responsible for a great deal of suffering and pain, I understand that.  I live in a tormented state now, knowing all of the pain and suffering that I've created. I've left a legacy of shame, as some of my victims have pointed out, to my family and my grandchildren.  I'm sorry.  I know that doesn't help you.

The judge was not impressed.  Nor should he have been.  The apology was desperately insipid given the weight of the offense. 

U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin agreed.  "I simply do not get the sense that Mr. Madoff has done all that he could or told all that he knows," the judge said.

Madoff stood alone.  This was a man abandoned.  None of the convicted swindler's family was in court to bear witness.  None had ever showed up at any of his court appearances.  The judge said he had not received a single letter on Madoff's behalf, testifying to any good deeds or charitable works. "The absence of such support is telling," Chin said.

Investors said that his apologies left them cold.  They seemed content with the fact that Madoff will die in prison. 

So, back to the question.  Is there any apology that would have made a difference?  Or is the weight of Madoff's crime so heavy that it is beyond the power of apology?

I think Madoff had a shot, just a shot at redemption. 

No Guarantees

His apology would have had to call on a pattern of helping authorities find the money that he swindled.  Madoff could have demonstrated repentance by dedicating himself to recovering as much wealth as possible without regard to protecting his friends and family, naming names, divulging records, disgorging funds from secret bank accounts, identifying property that authorities didn't know about, and otherwise focusing on compassion for his victims. 

He had taken the first step by turning himself in to police and not infuriating people by denying the scandal.   

Where he fell short was refusing to fight for as much restitution as possible.  For that deficit, Bernard Madoff, disgraced and abandoned, will die in prison.  WHat a shame.