Earl Jones and Bernie Madoff Comparison Shifaz Veettil

Earl Jones and Bernie Madoff are two examples of people who abused their power and stole millions from their customers. Both individuals ran illegal Ponzi schemes by taking large amounts of money from investors to pay off other investors. Their operations have both similarities and differences. Earl Jones is a Canadian investment advisor who ran a Ponzi scheme which cost his victims an estimated $51.3 million from 1982 to 2009. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison after pleading guilty in 2010. Bernie Madoff is also an investor who was the operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered as the largest financial fraud in American history. Both Jones and Madoff performed their dealings in the exempt market, which are lightly regulated and not listed on stock exchanges. In addition, they both never actually invested any of the money they received. They also did not have appropriate accounting records. Madoff operated his scheme with a threeperson accounting firm which only had one full-time employee, and Jones was not a registered financial planner, which allowed him to not be subject to compliance checks or professional standards. They both ended with prison sentences and bankruptcy. Although Madoff and Jones share similarities in their methods, their schemes also had some differences. First of all, Madoffs scandal was on a much larger scale as he had over 4800 clients and stole $64.8 billion, compared to Jones $51.3 million. In addition, Jones promised high interest returns to his clients, similar to most Ponzi schemes, while Madoff pledged moderate but consistent returns. Finally, Madoff deposited his clients money in his business bank account, while Jones put the money into his companys trust account.