What Madoff, Minkow and Ponzi now have in common

It's not the first time Bernard L. Madoff has had his name in lights this year.

But with his induction into the newly launched Con Artist Hall of Infamy, it may well be the first time that his exploits will serve a constructive purpose.

The gallery of rogues at www.thehallofinfamy.com, which goes public today, is designed as a comprehensive educational tool to help readers understand and prevent white-collar crime.

The nonprofit website is the brainchild of San Francisco financier Warren Hellman, founder and chairman of the Hellman & Friedman private equity firm, and Arthur Rock, a venture capitalist who was among the first investors in Intel Corp. and Apple Inc.

Halls of fame are usually reserved for rock stars and baseball giants, but in the vein of the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, D.C., or the "America's Most Wanted" television show, Rock and Hellman wanted to include fraudsters who made their own scandalous mark.

There are 35 inductees in the Hall of Infamy, and Madoff, 71, the former Nasdaq chairman who was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison after pleading guilty to swindling investors out of billions of dollars, is the most current crook.

Charles Ponzi, the namesake of the Ponzi scheme, is also a member, thanks to his postal coupon scam in the early 1900s.

Then there's John Law, a Scottish playboy and French minister of finance who bankrupted thousands of Parisians in the early 18th century.

And who could forget local-boy-made-bad Barry Minkow, the Reseda-raised wunderkind who used fake contracts, credit card fraud, mob money and bank loans to pass off his carpet-cleaning business as a $300-million success in the '80s.

Current and future inductees are judged using one of four criteria: That they either stole or caused shareholders to lose huge sums; displayed a colorful character; committed a crime that resonated throughout an entire industry or compelled new legislation; or were proved guilty in court.

There are no women in the hall -- not yet, anyway.

"Maybe they're too smart to get caught or they're actually too honest," Hellman joked.

Each profile includes a detailed description of the con and an assessment of the wreckage, as well as the outcome of each case.

Minkow, for example, spent seven years in federal prison and now helps nab crooks at his Fraud Discovery Institute.