It all fell apart in 2008 after Madoff’s business was uncovered as a classic Ponzi scheme that brought him billions of dollars.
Bernard Madoff – the man behind the largest and most devastating pyramid scheme in history, taking over $ 65 billion of tens of thousands of victims worldwide, has gone from the pinnacle of fame. hope – from a powerful Wall Street tycoon to an extremely hated criminal who spends the rest of his life in a prison in North Carolina. The US federal prison agency confirmed that Bernard Madoff died at the age of 82 on April 14 while serving a prison term.
Super trick Bernard Madoff. Photo: Reuters
“We think he is God”
For decades, Bernard Madoff, former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange, has been regarded as a model of a self-made financial expert who always enjoys luck despite the volatility of the market.
He has attracted a large number of dedicated investment clients, from Florida retirees to the rich and famous, including director Steven Spielberg, actor Kevin Bacon, Fred Wilpon – team boss baseball New York Mets and Elie Wiesel – Nobel Peace Prize winners
Madoff, was born in 1938 in a middle-class Jewish neighborhood in Queens, New York. His father, Ralph, was a stockbroker – the son of Eastern European immigrants in the United States.
Madoff and his brother Peter arrived on Wall Street in 1960 with the meager money saved from working as lifeguards and installing sprinkler systems. Madoff studied political science and law before founding Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities (BMIS). BMIS has built a reputation for large deals on the Nasdaq. In 1980, the company owned three floors of a high-rise building in downtown Manhattan.
Madoff helped make Nasdaq the largest stock exchange in North America through efforts to build its competitive advantage and increase its influence between 1970 and 1980. He was later appointed. President Nasdaq, has become a reliable figure in the eyes of investors as well as regulators.
“We think he is God. We entrust everything into his hands “, Elie Wiesel – Nobel Peace Prize winner shared.
Silently “cheat black child”
But what the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not discover is that behind the scenes, in a separate and closed office, Madoff secretly runs the virtual wealth network using the money of the houses. New investments to pay back the old ones. If other ponzi scams work by paying high returns to investors and then collapsing quickly, Madoff pays a modest but steady return to perpetuate the scam over the long term.
Over the years, at least $ 13 billion has been invested in Madoff’s missions, the US authorities said. The collected documents show that Madoff’s profits are always stable at 2 digits even during market downturns. Before Madoff was arrested, many reports said that the amount of invested assets had reached 65 billion USD.
Kim in the bag for a long time also emerged
It all collapsed in 2008 after Madoff’s business was uncovered as a classic Ponzi scheme that brought the businessman billions. This mission has evaporated all money and wiped out the fortunes of investors – rich and poor, shattering many charities and funds around the world. Madoff – the biggest fraud boss in Wall Street history is so hated that he must wear a bulletproof vest to court after admitting his crime.
Madoff’s crimes not only ruined the lives of 37,000 victims, but also destroyed his own family, including Madoff’s two sons. Mark – one of his children committed suicide in 2010 – two years after his father was arrested. Another left son, Andrew, died of cancer at the age of 48. His wife, Ruth, is still alive and is currently hiding somewhere in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Madoff has created “a legend around him that makes everything special, unique and all,” said Elie Wiesel, a victim of the Ponzi mission that was seized for $ 15.2 million. are kept secret ”. Like many of his clients, Madoff and his wife enjoy a lavish lifestyle. They own a $ 7 million apartment in Manhattan, a $ 11 million real estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and a $ 4 million home on Long Island. In addition, his family has a house in the south of France, private aircraft and yachts.
In a report released in 2009, lawyer Irving Picard, representing the victims of the scam said: “The investigation of Madoff’s assets has led to a maze of funds, nests organizations and many international agencies are related and intertwined in unprecedented complexity with a width that seems to have no stops “.
The report said Madoff’s scam spread widely: Britain, Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, Gibraltar, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bahamas. More than 15,400 lawsuits have been filed against Madoff.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March 2009, saying he wanted to apologize to all victims and was deeply ashamed of his behavior. After being confined to an attic apartment in Manhattan for a while, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison in June 2009 and began serving in July 2009. The Madoff’s property was auctioned off. The US government also set up a trust to recoup the money that Madoff’s company has put into investments and pay thousands of victims.
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