I read with amusement the stories of Bernard Madoff bilking what seems to be hundreds of rich people out of billions and billions of dollars in what has been termed the world's largest Ponzi scheme.

If you haven't been following the story, and I really don't understand how anyone could miss it, 70-year-old Bernard Madoff is a long-time figure on Wall Street and owner of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. He was the former head of the Nasdaq stock market and formulated many of the improvements related to the speed and efficiency of that market.

But it seems that underneath his suave and gentlemanly manner, he was simply a thief. It was revealed late last week that for the past 20 years or so he has been ripping off the rich and famous to the tune of about $50 billion.

Yes, that's 50 with an "f" and billion with "b."

Beginning over the weekend and continuing through today, the "victims" began sending out press releases, laying off people and closing down offices. They included many big names - movie director Steven Spielberg, real estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets, to name a few. They also included some really big banks - Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC together lost $1.6 billion, France's Natixis bank lost $600 million and Spanish bank Santander said it lost $3.1 billion.

So how did Madoff rip people off these oh-so-many years? By stealth, literally.

I've noticed over the years, and this is a generalization, that whenever there is mayhem, it's always perpetrated by someone you would least expect would do it, which has prompted many a neighbor to comment after an event, "He was a such a quiet boy. I would never have thought him capable of doing that." Whatever that is.

It seems that since Madoff began his company, he has been paying off earlier depositers with money coming in from new clients, providing a steady, but not spectacular, returns. He cultivated an image of a successful, even sage, investor. He made his way around the rich and famous neighborhoods. He socialized with the same people that were supposed to be regulating him and he made sure that his political "friends" were well taken care of, including New York senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton and Massachusetts senators Christoper Dodd and Ted Kennedy. He gave $100,000 to the Democratic Senator Campaign Committee from 2005-2008.

In addition, over the years, Madoff has been asked for advice by government regulators, and in 2000 served on the Advisory Committee on Market Information.

So it comes as no surprise that this scheme went undetected. It was never even registered as an investing arm of his company until 2005.

"Bernie? Why, who would have thought?" people have been saying in article after article.

As early as 1999, the Security and Exchange Commission was advised that something seemed amiss in the Madoff empire. The returns were too good to be true.

But no one wanted to rock the boat. Bernie? Shucks, he wouldn't harm a fly.

If it were just the rich who suffered losses because of their mindless dealings with Madoff, I wouldn't think much of this. But the entire market is jaundiced because of this one man and because the regulators and politicians failed to do their jobs.

Capitalism takes another hit, reports from around the world are telling me. But this isn't capitalism, it's theft, pure and simple.

Ralph E. Wirtz is managing editor of the Daily News.