Bernie Madoff is helping teach MBA students how to combat fraud from jail
As he serves out his 150-year prison sentence for running one of the largest Ponzi schemes of all time, former financier Bernie Madoff has taken on an unusual role.
No, he hasn't cornered the prison market on chocolate - that's a charge he vehemently denies in Poets & Quants' recent exclusive.
Instead, he's teamed up with David Weber, the former chief investigator of the SEC, in order to teach MBA students about fraud.
According to Poets & Quants' report, Weber, a professor at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business, enlisted Madoff to help out with his online executive and fraud detection classes.
So far, Madoff has reviewed course materials, evaluated Weber's syllabus, and even picked out the textbook for the class.
Online MBA students occasionally email him questions, and he emails them back responses through Weber. In one email correspondence with Weber, shared via Poets & Quants, Madoff weighed in on how MBA graduates might feel pressure to commit fraud because "earnings pressure is so high."
He wrote:
"You are providing a great service to your students. I for one am a terrific example of what you are talking about... David I was surrounded by every level of investor and business executive and I am convinced that FRAUD is rampant at almost every level. I wish I had the knowledge to somehow change this. I think that the often quoted remark of Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street that 'GREED IS GOOD'. Once again this behavior is not limited to the Business world. Look at our GOVERNMENT. I know I sound bitter. Please excuse my own embarrassment and REMORSE."
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