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Can Madoff ever apologize?
By Lauren | March 13, 2009
Now that Bernie Madoff has pled guilty to various counts of financial fraud, we no longer have to refer to his “alleged” Ponzi scheme. Surprisingly, Madoff admitted that the scam began over two decades ago when he started having trouble producing the exceptionally high returns that his wealthy clients had come to expect. That’s a very long time to keep any kind of scheme going and, on some level, Madoff is probably relieved that he finally got caught. He certainly seemed genuinely contrite when he entered his plea yesterday.
But can he ever apologize for what he’s done? Maybe.
Madoff took two critical positive steps toward an effective apology yesterday. He said he was sorry (and he probably is), and he either took responsibility for his actions or had it forced upon him by prosecutors. But those steps, taken alone, will be far from adequate. Madoff now needs to make amends, and serving his sentence, no matter how long, won’t be enough to set things right.
According to press reports, Madoff covered his misdeeds with an office full of bogus paperwork. More than $60 billion has vanished, but it has to have gone somewhere. If Bernie Madoff wants to be forgiven, he needs to help prosecutors trace the missing funds. Otherwise, any apology he tries to make is certain to fall flat.
Topics: Apologies, Business Ethics, Personal Ethics, ethics |