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Ex- JP Morgan Broker Gets Only 5 Years in Jail for Stealing more than $20 M

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B

bud23

Member
A former JPMorgan Chase & Co. broker who said he stole millions of dollars from customers because his brain was “hijacked” by an addiction to sports gambling was sentenced to five years in prison.

Michael Oppenheim, who at one point had about 500 clients and almost $90 million under management at JPMorgan, got so deeply in debt that, according to his lawyer, even his bookie expressed sympathy for him.

The former broker also got a break from U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres, who said ....“I am cognizant that gambling is a mental disorder which is aggravated during periods of stress and depression,” said Torres, who also credited Oppenheim for expressing remorse for his crimes.
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Oppenheim’s scam lasted more than seven years and targeted clients he knew wouldn’t pay close attention to their accounts, prosecutors said.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-gets-5-years-for-gambling-clients-funds-away

Do you remember when a homeless man in California was sentenced to 25 years for stealing food?

Good times. American justice system is a big fat mess
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
Seems appropriate to me. Many are getting away with less for worst.

Depends what the impact actually was.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
S

Syntsui

Member
I think this is appropriate. What is fucked up is the way other, less offensive crimes, get way harsher punishment. If he really stays locked up for 20 years, his life is over.
 
R

Roland_Gunner

Member
Bloomberg article said:
"We’ve been working with all affected customers to ensure that any stolen funds have been returned. - JP Morgan spokesperson
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The bank is restoring the stolen money, so actual investors aren't being impacted. Five years seems fair for what he did.
 
S

Somnid

Member
He should get lots of community service and go to rehab. Not sure what jail is supposed to do for him other than cost the rest of us more money.
 
S

Seth Enosh

Member
Somnid said:
He should get lots of community service and go to rehab. Not sure what jail is supposed to do for him other than cost the rest of us more money.
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It's a deterrent. If stealing that much money just got you community service and a rehab program, more people might do it.

That's the theory behind punishment in the USA anyway. Same reason we have capital punishment which obviously does nothing to rehabilitate a person.

Edit: also the OP has a false comparison. The 25 year sentence was in California, this is a federal crime. US and California justice systems are administered by separate sovereignties, there's no "American justice" and the USA has no obligation to make our federal justice system as harsh as California's. If anything, people have been working towards reform for mandatory minimums at the federal level and reducing sentences at that level.
 
K

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
This sentence seems very appropriate.

The homeless sentence is damn wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right.
 
A

ApharmdX

Banned
If the average person would strongarm $500 from a convenience store they'd stand a reasonable chance of getting more than 5 years in prison. God bless America and the mental/moral gymnastics that it takes to gives the 1% a slap on the wrist for stealing wholesale from their fellow Americans.
 
G

Giant Panda

Member
For a non-violent crime I'm not too upset about this. Maybe could have gotten a bit more but I don't think a lot more would be appropriate.
 
W

Wafflecakes

Member
ApharmdX said:
If the average person would strongarm $500 from a convenience store they'd stand a reasonable chance of getting more than 5 years in prison. God bless America and the mental/moral gymnastics that it takes to gives the 1% a slap on the wrist for stealing wholesale from their fellow Americans.
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False equivalency.

Violent vs non-violent crime.
 
A

Aselith

Member
ApharmdX said:
If the average person would strongarm $500 from a convenience store they'd stand a reasonable chance of getting more than 5 years in prison. God bless America and the mental/moral gymnastics that it takes to gives the 1% a slap on the wrist for stealing wholesale from their fellow Americans.
Click to expand...

Strongarm how? With a gun?
 
K

KingK

Member
Fuchsdh said:
I don't get this attitude. Maybe the response should be "hey, that homeless guy shouldn't be going to jail for decades for stealing food" rather than "why weren't we as capricious with our sentencing for the rich guy! Fuck him!"
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Yeah agreed, five years seems like a fair sentence. The problem is that if he wasn't rich it would have been a fuckton more years.

Angelus Errare said:
You don't take from your fellow 1%ers that gets you sent to jail. You take from the middle/lower class you'll escape punishment.
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Yup.
 
M

Mathieran

Banned
I think the prison sentence is fine, it's actually about right, although I think he should serve community service for years afterwards on top of it.

It's just that poor people serve too much time so this seems egregious. I'm actually surprised he's getting any jail time at all, so I consider this a win.
 
C

cameron

Member
Looking at it the wrong way. The broker's sentence is appropriate and the justice system worked as it should in this instance. The dude didn't walk. With the homeless guy, his sentence is way too harsh. That's what's broken. Too often poor people get shitty representation/defense and prosecutors couldn't care less.
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
i need someone to explain to me how he "stole" the money - this isn't how IB works.

Also - if you have a GAMBLER dealing with investments you have a massive issue.

anyways, i would like to know how he "stole" money rather than "invested it unwisely" as that is a massive difference in this case and goes back to the fundamentals of the stock crash.
 
C

Cagey

Banned
DCharlie said:
i need someone to explain to me how he "stole" the money - this isn't how IB works.

Also - if you have a GAMBLER dealing with investments you have a massive issue.

anyways, i would like to know how he "stole" money rather than "invested it unwisely" as that is a massive difference in this case and goes back to the fundamentals of the stock crash.
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It's in the article in the original post: he wasn't committing negligence with investments or charging outrageous fees, he straight up stole client funds.

According to prosecutors, the former broker induced clients to withdraw hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars from their accounts by promising he’d invest the money in low-risk municipal bonds to be held at the bank. Instead, the U.S. said, he used the money to obtain cashier’s checks and deposited them in his own accounts outside the bank. Oppenheim’s scam lasted more than seven years and targeted clients he knew wouldn’t pay close attention to their accounts, prosecutors said.
Click to expand...
 
C

cameron

Member
DCharlie said:
i need someone to explain to me how he "stole" the money - this isn't how IB works.

Also - if you have a GAMBLER dealing with investments you have a massive issue.

anyways, i would like to know how he "stole" money rather than "invested it unwisely" as that is a massive difference in this case and goes back to the fundamentals of the stock crash.
Click to expand...

From the article:
Oppenheim wagered on weekly National Football League games starting in 1993 and eventually moved to online sports betting, his lawyer, Paul Shechtman, told Torres during the hearing. After losing hundreds of thousands of dollars while working at JPMorgan, Oppenheim began stealing from clients to attempt to make up his losses, he said. Oppenheim eventually began options trading in technology stocks like Apple Inc., losing as much as $2.7 million in one day in a fruitless effort to pay back clients, Shechtman said

Oppenheim pleaded guilty in November to stealing more than $20 million, having targeted 10 of the wealthiest clients on his list. He covered up the theft by giving the customers faked account statements in what the U.S. called a game of “hide and seek” with their money.
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According to prosecutors, the former broker induced clients to withdraw hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars from their accounts by promising he’d invest the money in low-risk municipal bonds to be held at the bank. Instead, the U.S. said, he used the money to obtain cashier’s checks and deposited them in his own accounts outside the bank. Oppenheim’s scam lasted more than seven years and targeted clients he knew wouldn’t pay close attention to their accounts, prosecutors said.
Click to expand...
 
C

CarpeDeezNutz

Member
diamount said:
Well, if you've got a conviction for fraud I doubt he'll work in the same industry. But who knows...
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That's what I was thinking about, he might get out earlier than those 5 years but what's going to be waiting for him when he gets out? I would assume no one would want to hire him, maybe he's got some cash money hidden away.
 
AaronB

AaronB

Member
A minor pickle if you're looking at it through the lens of class.

Would you expect him to get a light punishment because he's a rich white-collar guy, or a harsh punishment because he ripped off a big corporation and the bank had to cover the bill?
 
T

Team Alucard

Banned
said he stole millions of dollars from customers because his brain was “hijacked” by an addiction to sports gambling was sentenced to five years in prison.
Click to expand...

Affluence has mutated I see.

Affluenza phage FanDuel

Go
l
d help us all.
 
K

kirblar

Member
DCharlie said:
i need someone to explain to me how he "stole" the money - this isn't how IB works.

Also - if you have a GAMBLER dealing with investments you have a massive issue.

anyways, i would like to know how he "stole" money rather than "invested it unwisely" as that is a massive difference in this case and goes back to the fundamentals of the stock crash.
Click to expand...
IB is essentially gambling. It attracting that type of problem personality isnt a surprise.
 
P

pelicansurf

Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
ApharmdX said:
It's not a false equivalency. There's such a difference in degree that it it might as well be a difference in kind.



No, with force by way of personal weapons (fists, feet) or threat of force- "I'm going to punch you in the face unless you give me your money."
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I mean, that's still technically a violent crime.
 
G

God Dayumm

Banned
ApharmdX said:
It's not a false equivalency. There's such a difference in degree that it it might as well be a difference in kind.



No, with force by way of personal weapons (fists, feet) or threat of force- "I'm going to punch you in the face unless you give me your money."
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about fists because I'm a man and can defend myself from that. But to me someone that robs even 1 dollar at gunpoint deserves more jail time than someone who robs a billion through fraud.

In either case, 5 years is too little. We can all agree on that I hope.
 
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