Bernie Madoff

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Feds Say Madoff Victim Fund Has Surpassed Expectations

25K scammed investors got $158.9M back in latest distribution of funds

(Newser) - The Justice Department says its Madoff Victim Fund has "exceeded expectations" and is paying out $158.9 million to almost 25,000 scammed investors in its latest distribution of funds. On Monday—15 years to the day after Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme was exposed—the department said...

Bernie Madoff's Sister and Her Husband Found Dead

Police say it was a murder-suicide

(Newser) - A couple found dead inside their home in Boynton Beach, Fla., Thursday afternoon were identified Sunday as relatives of the late Bernie Madoff. The disgraced financier's sister, Sondra Wiener, 87, was found alongside her husband Marvin, 90; they had fatal gunshot wounds, the Miami Herald reports. Police responded to...

Bernie Madoff's Final Days Involved Gangrene, Hallucinations

FOIA request reveals what the end was like for disgraced financier

(Newser) - In the last months of Bernie Madoff's life, the Ponzi schemer developed gangrene and had two toes amputated, suffered from hallucinations, lost eight teeth, and experienced a host of other physical and mental woes. This according to more than 4,000 pages of the disgraced financier's medical records...

Madoff Is Dead, but 'Clawback' Effort Isn't

Lawyers say they still have at least 2 years of work ahead

(Newser) - Epic Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff is dead . But the effort to untangle his web of deceit lives on. More than 12 years after Madoff confessed to running one of the biggest financial fraud in Wall Street history, a team of lawyers is still at work on a sprawling effort...

The Shared Blame for Madoff
The Shared Blame for Madoff
OPINION
Apr 14, 2021 7:20 PM CDT

The Shared Blame for Madoff

Investors should've pushed more, but the SEC takes the cake, columnist writes

(Newser) - "Everyone was greedy," Bernie Madoff once said. "I just went along." That's a little convenient, but then there's been a lot of revisionism since his scams were exposed. Plenty of people say they'd never have fallen for his offer of 12% annual returns,...

Bernie Madoff Dies in Prison at Age 82

Sources tell AP Ponzi schemer died of natural causes

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, died in a federal prison early Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter told the AP . Madoff died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, NC, apparently from natural causes, the person said. The person...

Why the Mets Pay a 57-Year-Old $1.2M Every July 1

Bobby Bonilla will get that each year through 2035

(Newser) - It's a pretty safe bet that July 1 is Bobby Bonilla's favorite day of the year. That's because it's the day on which the New York Mets pay him $1,193,248.20. Bonilla, 57, hasn't picked up a bat since 2001, when he last...

Judge Rejects Freeing Madoff
Judge Won't Release Madoff
Jun 4, 2020 6:20 PM CDT

Judge Won't Release Madoff

Ponzi scheme victims are still suffering, ruling says

(Newser) - Saying "many people are still suffering from" the crimes committed by Bernie Madoff, a federal judge refused Thursday to set the convict free. Madoff, 82, is serving a 150-year sentence, but his lawyers said he's dying of kidney disease and asked that he be released now, CNBC reports....

Madoff Victims to Receive Another Check

Senator opposes convict's request for early release

(Newser) - Another $378.5 million is on its way to victims of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The Justice Department said Monday that this will be the fifth round of payments, from a government fund of forfeited money, that altogether will total more than $4 billion, NBC reports. More than 38,...

Madoff Wants to Make 'Dying Plea' for Release

Lawyer says fraudster wants to personally tell judge he is remorseful

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff, who disclosed last month that he is dying of kidney disease , wants to make a "final dying, personal plea" for freedom, the fraudster's lawyer said Thursday in a request for a new hearing. Attorney Brandon Sample said it would be "eminently reasonable" to schedule a...

Prosecutors Weigh In on Madoff's Request for Mercy

He must stay in prison even if he's dying, they tell judge

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff says he's dying and should be released from prison on compassionate grounds. A professor who advocates for criminal justice reform agrees . Prosecutors do not. "The nature of Madoff's crime—unprecedented in scope and magnitude—wholly justified the 150-year sentence this Court imposed and is by...

Professor: It's Time to Set Bernie Madoff Free
Professor: It's Time
to Set Bernie Madoff Free
OPINION
Feb 17, 2020 5:00 PM CST

Professor: It's Time to Set Bernie Madoff Free

He qualifies for compassionate release, argues professor in op-ed

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff wants a judge to grant him "compassionate release" from prison because he is dying of kidney disease. In a New York Times op-ed, a sociology and criminal justice professor argues that the judge should do so. Yes, Madoff "is as close to the financial equivalent of...

Bernie Madoff: I Don't Have Much Time Left to Live

The disgraced Ponzi schemer says he has kidney disease

(Newser) - Epic Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff asked a federal judge Wednesday to grant him a "compassionate release" from his 150-year prison sentence, saying he has terminal kidney failure and less than 18 months to live, the AP reports. Madoff's attorney filed court papers saying the 81-year-old has end-stage kidney...

Bernie Madoff Asks Trump for Clemency

'The very definition of chutzpah'

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff is now 10 years into his 150-year sentence for orchestrating a $65 billion Ponzi scheme—and the 81-year-old is looking for a way out. Justice Department records show that Madoff has petitioned President Trump to commute his sentence, and the request is listed as "pending," ABC...

Former Madoff Secretary Wants Early Prison Release

Annette Bongiorno will have served two thirds of her six-year prison term by March 19

(Newser) - A lawyer for the former secretary for imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff is asking that she be released from prison in March. Attorney Roland Riopelle says 70-year-old Annette Bongiorno will have served two thirds of her six-year prison term by March 19 and should be released then. He cited a law...

Most Money From Madoff's Sons' Estates Will Go to Victims

Estates reach $23M deal with government

(Newser) - Victims of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme will divvy up $23 million from the estates of his two sons. The estates of Mark Madoff, who killed himself in 2010, and Andrew Madoff, who died of cancer in 2014, reached a deal with the US government—eight years in the making—...

4th Person Connected to Madoff Commits Suicide

Father of four jumped from NY hotel

(Newser) - A hedge fund manager who was duped in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme jumped from the 24th floor of a New York hotel on Monday, becoming the fourth person linked to Madoff to commit suicide, reports the New York Daily News . Police and witnesses say Charles Murphy, 56, jumped from...

From Prison, Madoff Defends Two Dead Sons

They weren't in on Ponzi scheme, he tells NBC

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff is trying to clear the names of his dead sons caught up in his mammoth Ponzi scheme. In emails to NBC , the 76-year-old insists that Andrew and Mark never knew about his illegal dealings. Andrew died of cancer last year at age 48, and Mark committed suicide at...

JPMorgan to Cough Up $2B in Madoff Case

Bank accused of turning a blind eye to vast Ponzi scheme

(Newser) - Five years after history's biggest Ponzi scheme was exposed, Bernie Madoff's main banker is facing a rare criminal action for its role in the scam and is preparing to settle for around $2 billion, reports the New York Times . JPMorgan is accused of turning a blind eye to...

10K More Madoff Investors Could Get Cash

Victim pool has been expanded

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff's victim pool has been expanded to include so-called "third party" investors, or people who lost money they had invested with "middleman" firms that in turn invested it with Madoff. That means more than 10,000 people—initially denied from receiving compensation distributed by the liquidation...

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