I suspect that quite a lot of accomplices will emerge in coming weeks and months, possibly including Madoff's own family. The large amount of detail in Madoff's trading statements is itself circumstantial evidence of conspiracy.
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I agree. My first thought was that he decided to architect a conclusion that spared his family and/or other close accomplices.
Even if it is much less than the $50B quoted it's hard to believe he maintained a scheme so massive for so long all by himself.
k1
ryanculver.blogspot.com
There is little doubt that there were numerous accomplices. Then entire "conclusion" offered by Madoff seems to be a smokescreen for family and close associates. It won't work.
Any "investor" who netted a profit will be getting a very close look for signs of accomplice-ism. Pretty likely some of them knew exactly what they were doing.
From their "old" web site..:
via The Internet Archive:
Here it is. It was his clients who helped him... I am glad he helped NASDAQ tough. It is a good exchange.
They will discover exactly as many accomplices as were found with Jérôme Kerviel of Société Générale fame earlier this year....none.
Hmmm... but if you want to keep a secret, don't tell it to anyone. Madoff really wanted to keep a secret, and did keep it. My guess is no one else knew, though a few may have been a bit careful not to ask the right questions.
The basic way to manage a really big, long lasting fraud was illustrated by two 20 year businesses that existed until a couple of years ago in Spain. They sold people postage stamps, and guranteed to buy them back after a term at a higher price equivalent to a bit above the going rate of interest. Careful accounts were kept, including diligent but completely ficticious revaluations of the stamps. In fact the extra interest was paid out of investors' capital, of course. There were, in that case, several people in the secret. But there were hundreds of employees diligently doing the business who thought it was all a very respectable enterprise.
Madoff had a back office generating his trading records and other documentation. They are reported to have been well paid and not too bright - much like the small legion of Spanish employees. And I bet that Madoff's people were convinced that the whole operation was completly kosher. The common element is manning your smokescreen with honest, hard-working folk who will not ask questions.
Madoff had few clients. He could manage relations with them without help. He would only have needed accomplices if he was also milking capital out of the business to stash away elsewhere. (That is where most of the accomplices of the original Spanish pair of fraudsters got into that act). So far, Madoff has not been accused of that sort of stealing. If he did not try to make a few hundred million or more evaporate to somehow condense in his personal pot of gold, Madoff did not need accomplices.