Wow, that is REALLY REALLY DUMB, isn't it?
Yes - and yet, based on the information I've read on him, he seems to be an intelligent, competent individual who, at least initially, was on the side of the good guys. Nonetheless, if the various allegations are correct, he appears (IMO) to have taken at each turn those steps which he may have perceived as leading to a better, more comfortable life without regard to either an appropriate assessment of the risks or the moral and ethical consequences of his acts.
Some additional biographical material on Winkler may be of interest to the thread:
As noted above, he started out on the side of the good guys - in this case, the NASD regulatory group:
... Between 1979 and 1986, Mr. Winkler worked in the New York office of the NASD's regulatory arm as an examiner. The NASD, a self-regulatory organization for the brokerage industry working under the SEC, employs examiners to do both routine and targeted inquiries of securities firms. It isn't unusual for NASD employees including examiners to cross over and join a brokerage firm after learning the trade; but some NASD critics have said there is a potential conflict of interest.
Mr. Winkler's main task was to conduct on-sight evaluations of member firms. By all accounts, he was well liked by his colleagues and considered an expert at NASD's operations, people who served with him say. "Stu understood the nitty gritty," says Franklin Ogele, who worked with Mr. Winkler as an examiner in the mid-1980s. ...
- from an WSJ Interactive article titled "NASD Staff Scrutinized Over Leaks; Small Broker Got Internal Documents" by staff reporters Charles Gasparino and Terzah Ewing, published on July 19, 1999.
The move from the NASD to A.S. Goldmen IMO was the first step on the downwards spiral that led to his latest troubles. Yet I conjecture that, at the time, it likely appeared to him a wise move both financially and with regard to other aspects such as management responsibility and power. With respect to the latter, according to his own description (per NASD Regulation records), he played a central role in the affairs of A.S. Goldmen:
... At all times relevant, Winkler was a principal and Vice President of
Goldmen, responsible for investment banking, sales, trading, and all areas of
supervision and compliance. Winkler readily acknowledged that he ran the Firm and that, although Marchiano owned the Firm, he (Marchiano) deferred to Winkler "on everything." Hearing Tr. at 1744. ...
nasdr.com
While being in charge of these activities at this dubious firm does not speak well of an individual's moral and ethical core, it does suggest competence in service of warped objectives.
Nonetheless, this presumably intelligent individual has made a series of very bad decisions (assuming the allegations against him are true) which led him on the downwards spiral culminating in his current plight.
All of the above other than historical facts and quotations from other sources represents my opinion only. |
