What's the difference between today's global finance system and a Ponzi scheme? This is the question that a 56-year-old veteran Russian financial scammer has been asking his victims.

Chillingly, he almost has a point.

When the financial crisis erupted at the end of September 2008, there was an unusual sense of incredible panic among banking executives and government officials. These two establishment groups are known for their conservative, understated approach and, above all, their stiff upper lip. Yet at the time they appeared to the public running about like headless chickens. It was chaos. A state of complete chaos. Within a few weeks, however, decisions were made and everything seemed to returned to normal and back under control. The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown even famously remarked that the government "saved the world."

But what really caused such an incredible panic in the establishment well known for its resilience? Maybe there are root causes that were not examined publicly and the government actions are nothing more than a temporary reprieve and a cover-up? Throwing good money after bad money, maybe?

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After ignoring the Madoff whistleblower for over a decade, everyone seems to finally listen to what he has to say!

I remember reading this New York Post article a couple of years ago. Yesterday one of my colleagues inquired as to the status of this lawsuit.

The London Telegraph reports that in a recent jailhouse interview, Madoff suggested the banks had enough evidence to detect his wrongdoings

First, JP Morgan Chase. Now Citigroup!

This is too funny. A connection between Wikileaks, Gadhafi and Madoff! Small world!

The SEC moved to quash speculation that its top lawyer David Becker decided to step down because he is being sued as part of a "clawback" lawsuit by the trustee seeking to recover assets on behalf of victims of Bernard Madoff's fraud.

A lawsuit seeks to recover assets from the estate of Mr. Becker's mother, which allegedly received $1.54 million in fictitious profits from Mr. Madoff's firm.

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Wonder J P Morgan Chase CEO Jamie DImon has to say about his bank's ties to Madoff?

So now we learn that senior executives with decision-making authority inside JPMorgan Chase -- the Wall Street behemoth that is supposedly run by the most mature of adults -- apparently suspected that Bernie Madoff was running an enormous Ponzi scheme even as they kept doing business with his firm. They supposedly kept funneling money his way and let him run cash through Chase accounts even as they were sending emails to one another reporting the creepy sense that the whole enterprise didn't look real. This, according to internal documents that came out in a lawsuit on Thursday.

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