United States: Bernard Madoff, convicted in 2009 for financial fraud, died in prison
The Ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff, pictured in 2009, was revealed during the 2008 financial crisis and resulted in many investors losing their savings TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP / File
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Bernard Madoff was serving a 150-year prison sentence for a pyramid fraud called the “Ponzi scheme”, where interest is paid with funds brought in by new clients.
Publicity
Read more
Bernard Madoff died this Wednesday, April 14 at the age of 82.
He was being held at the Federal Penitentiary in Butner, North Carolina.
He was tried in 2009 and sentenced to 150 years in prison
for his role in the development of a fraud mechanism that had made it possible to embezzle amounts estimated at 64.8 billion dollars (54.2 billion euros at the current price).
He had also pleaded guilty to eleven counts, including those of fraud on the securities market, false statements to the stock exchange authorities, false documents, money laundering.
Very many victims
Among the victims of Bernard Madoff
, banks, insurance companies, foundations, such as the Elie Wiesel Foundation dedicated to the memory of the Shoah, the filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the actor John Malkovitch, or the baseball player Sandy Koufax.
Bernard Madoff's lawyer himself was among the victims.
However, it is more difficult to know how many anonymous people lost money in this massive scam.
Some victims have been totally ruined.
Bernard Madoff managed a fund, BMIS, which offered investments with an exceptional return of 8 to 12% per year guaranteed.
The American financier operated a pyramid fraud called "Ponzi scheme", where interest is paid with funds brought in by new clients.
This scheme would have worked like this for more than twenty years.
An extraordinary personality
The sums embezzled allowed Bernard Madoff and his wife to lead the way since they owned a penthouse in Manhattan, a villa in France, several yachts and luxury cars, their fortune being estimated in total at $ 825 million.
The system collapsed in the fall of 2008, at the time of the collapse of the financial markets caused by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, when some investors wanted to withdraw their funds, even though liquidity was running out.
Bernard Madoff, former non-executive boss of the Nasdaq, the electronic stock exchange, was a highly respected figure and a model of success until his arrest by the FBI, the US federal police.
There was no more loved and respected than Bernard Madoff, known for his charitable activities such as the fight against cancer.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
United States
Justice
Finance