One of the most common types of crimes where defendants are frequently released on bail is massive fraud in a widely known Ponzi scheme process. A Ponzi scheme is a type of investment fraud that requires the investors to attract more new investors, where eventually, the ones who invested earlier are paid from the funds collected from the new investors.
The first case upon consideration is Bernie Madoff, the former NASDAQ chairman, and the scandal widely known for being one of the biggest bails in history. Madoff was accused of defrauding thousands of people of more than $50 billion over the course of almost 20 years. Madoff encouraged the individuals to invest in his company for high returns. It was found later that a significant part of the investments was transferred to his private banking account, and investors were paid with funds from new investors (U.S. Department of Justice, 2020). Madoff posted a $10 million bail and remained on house arrest for 24 hours. Considering the damage from Madoff’s crime and his overall net worth, the bail was more on the low side.
In the recent case of the Ponzi scheme, Joshua Kayode allegedly defrauded 170 people of a sum close to $26 million. Kayode was admitted to bail in the sum of almost $5 million, an amount that is significantly bigger in proportion than Madoff’s bail. The disparity could be explained by Kayode (22) being much younger than Madoff, who was almost 70 at the time and had severe health issues.
Reference
United States Department of Justice. (2020). United States V. Bernard L. Madoff and related cases.United States Department of Justice. Web.