Biggest ever Ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff dies at 82, 138 yrs before ending jail sentence

Bernie Madoff, the financier who was found guilty of orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, has died. He died at the age of 82 years old at the Federal Medical Cente in Butner. His death was confirmed by his lawyer and the Bureau of Prisons. 

Bernie Madoff dies

A person familiar with the matter on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the death was due to natural causes. Madoff was born in 1938 in a lower-middle-class Jewish neighbourhood in Queens and he rose to prominence in the financial world. Madoff, former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market whose Midas touch defied market jumps. He was known as a self-made financial adviser for decades and had clients from commoners to many celebrities such as Steven Speilberg, Kevin Bacon etc.

But, in 2008, his investment advisory business was exposed as a Ponzi scheme that wiped out people's fortunes. The fraud was believed to be the largest in Wall Street's history. He was found guilty in March 2009 for fraud and other charges. His fake account statement at the time of arrest showed that it had clients holdings worth $60 billion. 

US District Judge Denny Chin sentenced Madoff to the maximum possible term - 150 years in total. In 2020, his lawyers had pleaded in court to release him from prison during the COVID-19 pandemic. They had said that Madoff suffered from end-stage renal disease and other chronic medical conditions but the court had rejected their plea. Madoff’s attorney in recent years, Brandon Sample in a statement said that the financier had “lived with guilt and remorse for his crimes” until his death.

“Here, the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff’s crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of irresponsible manipulation of the system is not merely a bloodless financial crime that takes place just on paper, but it is instead ... one that takes a staggering human toll,” Chin said.

(Inputs and Image from AP)