Bernard Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison

Monday, June 29, 2009

Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff (born April 29, 1938) is an American former financier and convicted felon. Madoff, who served as an non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, pled guilty to an 11-count criminal complaint, admitting to defrauding thousands of investors of billions of dollars and was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme that has been called the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person.[2][3] Federal prosecutors estimated client losses, which included fabricated gains, of almost $65 billion.[4] On June 29, 2009, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

Scattered applause and whoops broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin issued the maximum sentence to the 71-year-old defendant, who said he lives "in a tormented state now, knowing all the pain and suffering I've created."
Madoff has steadfastly refused to point the finger at anybody surrounding him. But few believe the 71-year-old financier could have spent two decades pulling off Wall Street's biggest scam without co-operation from others in the offices of Madoff Securities on the 17th floor of Manhattan's Lipstick building.

"It strains credulity to believe this man could have perpetrated this fraud single-handedly for so many years," said Jeff Zwerling, a New York lawyer representing Madoff clients. "The sheer volume of paperwork involved alone would render that practically impossible."
"It strains credulity to believe this man could have perpetrated this fraud single-handedly for so many years," said Jeff Zwerling, a New York lawyer representing Madoff clients. "The sheer volume of paperwork involved alone would render that practically impossible."
Madoff's sons, Andrew and Peter, have disassociated themselves with their father despite holding senior roles at Madoff Securities. Neither of them are on speaking terms with Madoff. The younger of the two, Andrew, recently got into a street brawl outside a Manhattan chicken take-away shop with a former colleague who accused him of involvement in the fraud.
Madoff's wife has been banned from her neighbourhood hair salon and from a favourite Italian restaurant. US officials have seized her seaside retreat in Palm Beach, Florida. Trailed by tabloid photographers on the New York subway this week, she snapped: "Are you having fun embarrassing me – and ruining my life?"

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Ahmadinejad is Not the Principal Decision-Maker in Iran?

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Speaking on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer today, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is in charge of Iran's foreign policy.

"Ahmadinejad is, in fact, as we well know, not the principal decision-maker when it comes to foreign policy and national security," Ambassador Rice said. "It is the Supreme Leader. That was the case before the election; it is the case now. And we will proceed in pursuit of our national interests, using all elements at our disposal, to try to achieve the goals that are most important to us, which are obviously to prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear weapons capability, preventing a regional arms race, ensuring that our partners and allies in the region and indeed the United States remain safe."

Ayatollah Khamenei may be in charge, but his apparent proxy, President Ahmadinejad, continues to escalate the rhetoric with President Obama. This week Mr. Obama highlighted the "bravery in the face of brutality" by those protesting the re-election of Ahmadinejad, and noted that opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has "captured the imagination" of the Iranian people hoping for change.

For the U.S. and other nations, the political machinations and posturing are linked to preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons capabilities and spawning a regional arms race.
The U.S. has left the door open for bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, she said. "We need to see how that plays out. We need to see if indeed the offers that have been made by the international community will be opportunities that the Iranians choose to accept. They face a stark choice: Greater isolation, or ending their nuclear program and their other destabilizing activities and rejoining a responsible community of nations. That prospect remains their choice. But it's in the United States' national interest to make sure that we have employed all elements at our disposal, including diplomacy to prevent iran from achieving that nuclear capacity."

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Hundreds of thousands protest in Iran, mourn dead

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Hundreds of thousands of protesters wearing black and carrying candles filled the streets of Tehran again Thursday, joining opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes over Iran's disputed election.

The massive protest openly defied orders from Iran's supreme leader, despite a government attempt to placate Mousavi and his supporters by inviting the reformist, and two other candidates who ran against hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to a meeting with the country's main electoral authority.

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Iran Reports 7 Deaths in Mass Protest Against Vote Result

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arrived in Russia Tuesday, Iranian state radio reported that seven people were killed in clashes overnight, ramping up tensions after days of unprecedented demonstrations which have forced a formal review of elections results.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Tehran had witnessed the largest demonstrations since the 1979 revolution with hundreds of thousands of people from across Iranian society pouring into the streets to protest what they charge were fraudulent results in Saturday’s presidential election.

The state radio announcement of the seven deaths provided no details of who the victims were or how they had died. Monday’s protests were believed to have been largely peaceful and only one death had been reported previously,

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, was compelled to respond to the popular and sustained defiance and called Monday for a formal review of the results, the first hint that the government might fear it could not control the crowds.

But Mr. Ahmadinejad’s decision to leave the country on a previously scheduled visit to Russia and carry on as head of state, threatened to inflame voters, who already had grown incensed when the president compared them to angry soccer fans whose team had lost.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in silence through central Tehran on Monday to protest Iran’s disputed presidential election in an extraordinary show of defiance from a broad cross section of society.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arrived in Russia Tuesday, Iranian state radio reported that seven people were killed in clashes overnight, ramping up tensions after days of unprecedented demonstrations which have forced a formal review of elections results.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Tehran had witnessed the largest demonstrations since the 1979 revolution with hundreds of thousands of people from across Iranian society pouring into the streets to protest what they charge were fraudulent results in Saturday’s presidential election.

The state radio announcement of the seven deaths provided no details of who the victims were or how they had died. Monday’s protests were believed to have been largely peaceful and only one death had been reported previously,

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, was compelled to respond to the popular and sustained defiance and called Monday for a formal review of the results, the first hint that the government might fear it could not control the crowds.

But Mr. Ahmadinejad’s decision to leave the country on a previously scheduled visit to Russia and carry on as head of state, threatened to inflame voters, who already had grown incensed when the president compared them to angry soccer fans whose team had lost.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in silence through central Tehran on Monday to protest Iran’s disputed presidential election in an extraordinary show of defiance from a broad cross section of society. Source: The New york Times

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and The President Election of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Saturday, June 13, 2009

The elections in Iran are really important. Election means consensus of all people's resolve and their crystallization of their demands and their wants, and it's a leap toward high peaks of aspiration and progress. Elections in Iran are totally popular-based move that belongs to the people with a look at the future, aimed at constructing the future
"The people of Iran inspired hope for all nations and created a source of pride in the nation and disappointed all the ill wishers," Ahmadinejad said in a nationwide TV address Saturday night. "This election was held at a juncture of history."

The government said on Saturday that Ahmadinejad won Friday's presidential election with 62.63 percent of the vote and Mir Hossein Moussavi received 33.75 percent of the vote.

But while he extolled the result and the huge turnout, Moussavi and supporters in the Tehran streets are crying foul as street clashes have erupted in the aftermath of the polls. Reaction emerged across the world, as countries such as the United States and Canada voiced concern over claims of voter irregularities.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, closed the door on any chance he could use his limitless powers to intervene in the disputes from Friday's election. In a message on state TV, he urged the nation to unite behind Ahmadinejad, calling the result a "divine assessment."
People leaned out of windows and balconies to watch the throngs of protesters march, many of whom were Moussavi supporters and conducted largely noisy but peaceful demonstrations.

Later in the evening, an agitated and angry crowd emerged in Tehran's Moseni Square, with people breaking into shops, starting fires and tearing down signs. Two sides of people faced off against each other in the square, throwing rocks and bottles and shouting angrily. Ahmadinejad, 52, won power four years ago, vowing to revive the values of the Islamic revolution. He has expanded the nuclear program, which Iran says is only for electricity generation, and stirred international outrage by denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.

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