It is certainly generous of Mark Cuban to explain to the SEC how to break open the Madoff case given the rocky relationship between them at this time, but Cuban had an interesting suggestion for the SEC on his blog yesterday.
Cuban wrote that if it he was the person investigating the case, the first people he would want to talk to would be Madoff’s software developers. He states:
Somewhere along the line there was a software program written or modified that allowed Madoff to enter the numbers he made up, who they were paying out cash to and would print the checks and statements. Its very unlikely that it was off the shelf software because it would be impossible for all the numbers to balance, or he would need to use suspense type of accounts that would raise red flags for even the smallest of accounting firms.
He adds that
someone had to outline the details of what they wanted the software to do, and in a scam of this size, could it be anyone but Madoff himself ? Someone had to take that information and either create or modify software to keep the whole mess running smoothly for him.
Find the programmers who wrote the software and you will find out how the whole thing worked.
It’s an interesting point and one that we have not seen anywhere else. Of course, the SEC is no doubt reading Cuban’s blog intently by now, so if this was not already on their radar screen it is now.
Read the post on Mark Cuban’s Blog Maverick
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This theory is laughable. Does he really think it’s not possible to game a software package? Sure, it might take some time to do it by entering phony data. But time is all Madoff seems to have had with this “business.”
Interesting take but I don’t know that’s the first stop. When I did my research for my story about Madoff,(linked above) I found a huge amount of people had to be with him. Start with him and work your way outward.
Cuban is definitely on to something. Madoff made his rep in systems, so he was a whiz at automation.
Second, what is a trading system but a huge game program. Run it in simulation mode, and voila, you’ve got Madoff.
The proof? He apparently NEVER DID A TRANSACTION.
Only thing is Cuban is a day late on this story.
Check out Charles H. Green at
http://trustedadvisor.com/trustmatters/483/Madoff–Investment-Fund–or-Virtual-Reality-Game
Or on the Huffington Post version at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-h-green/madoff-investment-fund-or_b_158788.html
Both posts dated January 17, not January 19.
I could create that program using “OFF-THE-SHELF” database software. This is not rocket science.
All Bernie would have to do is provide me with the data. Checks, statements, invoices, receipts: all could be printed with the software for as many as 10,000 or more clients.
It sounds/seems complicated but let me assure you all–it is not.