Even after Bernie Madoff’s death, the effort to untangle the web of fraud he left behind continues to live on…
More than twelve years after Madoff admitted his crimes, a team of lawyers is still working to recover the money for the thousands of victims of his scam.
The disgraced investor died at the age of 82 in prison. He suffered from chronic kidney failure and several other ailments…
Madoff was the mastermind of the most significant investment fraud scandal in U.S. history. He managed to make $65 billion in this Ponzi scheme. Because of this, he was given a 150-year prison sentence in 2009.
He admitted to betraying thousands of clients… and cheating them out of billions in investments through the decades. Among those who he swindled were:
- Actors Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, and John Malkovich
- Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax
- A charity associated with director Steven Spielberg
The owners of the New York Met were also longtime Madoff clients. They struggled for years to field a baseball team because of the losses they suffered from the Ponzi scheme.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel lost $15.2 million in her foundation. She said, “We thought he was God. We trusted everything in his hands.”
Madoff’s crimes were revealed to the authorities in 2008 by his two sons. His family members were not part of the schemes.
Unfortunately, both of Madoff’s sons died. Mark from suicide at age 46 and Andrew from cancer at age 48. Madoff’s wife, Ruth, is still alive today.
His brokerage firm was located in a Midtown Manhattan tower. The employees there said they felt like part of Madoff’s family. They also had no idea that he was running his fraud schemes on a different floor.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March 2009 to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed.”
“He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in-between. He had no values. He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife … could live a life of luxury beyond belief.” former investor Tom Fitzmaurice told the judge at the sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin showed no mercy, sentencing Madoff to a maximum of 150 years in prison…
This September, the Justice Department announced that additional funds of more than $568 million were distributed to nearly 31,000 victims of the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) fraud scheme.
“This distribution provides nearly 31,000 victims additional financial recovery from the egregious crimes committed by Bernard Madoff. The Department’s continued efforts to ensure justice for victims of crime is demonstrated through the ongoing Madoff remission process and the billions given back to innocent victims worldwide.” The acting Assistant General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said.
The Madoff Victim Fund (MVF) began its seventh distribution in funds. The series of payments will eventually return more than $4 billion to victims as compensation for the losses they suffered due to the collapse of BLMIS.
Americans will continue to remember this Ponzi Scheme, and they will continue to seek the justice they deserve even after the mastermind’s death…
The biggest fraud scheme in the world??? really?????? How about the massive fraud the US Government has and is raising and stealing from the Social Security System after Lyndon Johnson mixed the SSS funds in the General Fund and then distributed it to purposes for which we were never allowed to challenge.
When do we get reimbursed for THAT?
Yes – And, the Ponzi Scheme continues with the Biden-Harris Socialist Administration who DOES NOT FOLLOW the Science and has enriched Big Pharma with its empirical demands on American Citizens.