If you parse exactly and carefully what Madoff says you will see he is telling the truth:

A. "It doesn't mean there are no abuses - for sure.[] In today's regulatory environment it's virtually impossible to violate rules when this is something the public just doesn't understand."

So: There are abuses. But the public does not understand so you end up not [getting caught]. So even if I try to violate rules it's impossible to be labeled that way.

B."If you read something in the newspaper and you see someone violating a rule you say 'well they're always doing this'


"But it's impossible for you…uh, for a violation to go undetected certainly not for a considerable period of time."

This sentence should not have the "not" in it.

Yes, his abuses did go undetected for a considerable length of time. And the sentence should read…"certainly for a considerable length of time." It's "Impossible Not" which means possible.

The main problem is that people do not hear what others are actually saying, but hear what they expect to hear. They listen to his tone of superiority and fill in the rest - even when he tells them straight out. This is called hiding in plain sight.


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