I just remembered the famous words of the late Senator Pacita Madrigal Warns - millionaires don’t steal.

Well, that may be true. They don’t steal penny-ante. They bilk billions of pesos in Ponzi schemes and get away with their moolah. Or they simply file for bankruptcy and ask governments to pay up for their debts.

That’s the latest scandal in the United States. The case of Texas billionaire Allen Stanford who is charged with three of his companies with massive fraud as federal agents swooped down on his headquarters.

This followed the case of Bernie Maddox, another billionaire who is indicted for his Ponzi scam that had defrauded millions of people of their hard-earned money.

The same suspicion has focused on Celso de los Angeles of the Legacy Group. But the latter has reportedly managed to interpose layers of corporations to hide his hand in the Ponzi scheme that had also bilked thousands of people from their money.

But, here again, we find that even the Bangko Sentral analysts could hardly find the magic key that would depose De los Angeles’ participation in the scam. Unfortunately, despite his billions, that will not extend his life another single day.

Unfortunately, despite his billions, that will not extend his life another single day.

So with Standford, he was vanished into thin air. He is nowhere to be found. He reportedly is a citizen of Antigue and Barbuda of the Carribean. What is being unearthed now is the glaring existence of schemes that defraud millions of their money. And they have been victimized not by impoverished people, but by brilliant millionaires and billionaires.

That seems to be the problem with runaway capitalism. Lately, we have no less than US President Barack Obama rightly condemning the business leaders of several big corporations who bestowed on themselves millions of commissions they asked the government for bailout money for their bankrupt corporations. And, yes, we also heard about the denunciation of the Las Vegas outing by corporate executives of similarly tottering corporations, including the purchase of corporate jets by leaders of the three major car companies of the US. They, too, are asking for bailout money from the US government. In short, the public taxpayers are being asked to pay for their extravaganza.

It’s not only the more obvious ones who have committed crimes against the country’s unsuspecting victims. There are a lot of these silent mafioso, who, by their wiles managed to bilk both the public and the government of millions and billions of pesos. And they are among the toast of Philippine society.

I just wonder how they feel when they finally find themselves on the brink of death with their billions unable to extend their life but make sure that they will have to answer to the Lord for what they have been doing to the least of their brethren.*