Ripped Off: Madoff and the Scamming of America

Quickly put together following the news that Wall Street investor Bernard Madoff was arrested for scamming $65 billion from his well-heeled clients, this History Channel-aired documentary includes no information about Madoff's guilty plea or his 150-year jail sentence. Although several of Madoff's victims are interviewed here, as well as a number of financial history experts who weigh in on Madoff's actions, Ripped Off never successfully answers the questions of what compelled Madoff to perpetuate such a massive financial fraud or what became of his ill-gotten gains. The documentary unfortunately wastes much of its running time comparing Madoff to the legendary scammer Carlo Ponzi (source of the expression “Ponzi scheme”), even though the two men actually shared little in common in regards to either their personal or professional histories. Additionally, the film offers no satisfactory explanation of why the Securities and Exchange Commission ignored complaints for years about Madoff's operation (and no one from the SEC is interviewed here). A bonus History Channel-aired documentary, Crash: The Next Great Depression, offers a thumbnail sketch of how the mortgage market meltdown helped push the U.S. economy into a recession, but doesn't cover events beyond November 2008. Not recommended. Aud: P. (P. Hall)