Madoff’s unanswered billions

On March 12, former Wall Street icon Bernard Madoff pled guilty to all criminal charges brought against him, including fraud, theft, money laundering and perjury. Most people will be more than happy that the 70-year-old confessed and that he will get no less than 150 years behind bars. The latter is of course a symbolic figure, essentially meaning a life sentence. The length of sentence mainly gives weight to the notion, at least among the general public, that justice will be done. At the same time, however, it obscures the fact that as a consequence of Madoff pleading guilty, no in-depth trial will take place and many questions will likely remain unanswered. For example, it is still unclear if his wife and sons will be charged or if the family fortune will be drawn on to pay back his victims. Also, as no jury-trial will take place, we will probably