The WSJ Law Blog speculates on why disgraced investor Bernie Madoff is out on bail, while disgraced investor (and lawyer) Marc Dreier sits in a jail cell:
[Law Professor Peter J.] Henning chalks some of this up to the government’s perception of each defendant. “Madoff seems to have said ‘hey, you guys have caught up to me,’” says Henning. “He also has a reputation as a nice enough guy.” Adds [reporter Chad] Bray: “It sounds like [Madoff] is cooperating with the prosecutors (as much as he can at this stage of the case). He’s agreed to meet with the receiver and help recover assets.”
With Dreier, however, the situation was different. “At the time he was arrested, he was in a foreign country trying to impersonate other people,” says Henning. “I’m not surprised bail was contested.”
Link.