Hightower Lowdown

Bernie Madoff is the world-champion Ponzi schemer who has confessed to bilking some $50 billion from investors, including many friends, associates, and even his 74-year-old sister who lost about $3 million and had to sell her home.

But rather than being in jail--as any far lesser crook would be--Bernie's under house arrest, comfortably ensconced in his $7 million Manhattan apartment and guarded by security guards he himself was allowed to hire. Last Christmas, he tried to stash about $300 million worth of his ill-gotten loot with friends and relatives, some of it in packages he mailed containing more than a million dollars worth of precious gems and Tiffany watches. When this ploy was detected, Madoff's lawyer claimed that these were merely "a few sentimental personal items," and that poor Bernie had innocent- ly failed to realize that it was wrong to dispense assets bought with other people's money.

Astonishingly, a judge let him get away with this, requiring only that all valuables in Madoff's apartment be inventoried, so they can be checked periodically. But--get this-- the judge allowed Bernie himself to do the inventory!

Why have the authorities pampered this guy? Because he's a silk-shirt crook who was not only a Wall Street insider, but has also been a longtime crony of Washington regulators. Even while he was running his scam, Madoff was serving on several advisory committees to the very regulatory agency that was supposed to be watching him!

Throw him in a cold slammer until he accounts for every dime.