Bernie Madoff, 82, the man who pleaded guilty for orchestrating the largest fraud in history, has died in the prison of natural causes. He was serving his 150-year sentence for the crimes he committed. His Ponzi scheme worked by providing investors money from sources other than definite profits.
In a recently issued statement, his lawyer, Brandon Sample declared that Madoff bore the weight of his crimes until his death. Although his acts of nuisance had shaped up his character as a whole, Bernie Madoff was still a doting father and a loving husband. Sample never claimed Madoff’s innocence; instead, he stated that the man was “soft-spoken and an intellectual” and despite his several imperfections, he was still a human being at the end of the day.
Madoff had established his own Investment Securities firm in 1960. Over a period of time, the company grew monumentally to the extent that it prompted an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange as their interest was piqued by the company’s stellar returns. However, they weren’t able to trace any suspicious activities.
Bernie Madoff began his journey of suffering during the global recession, which affected the company. As a result, he tried to take $7bn from the collected funds but was not able to recover the incurred amount. Although Madoff never publicly acknowledged these misdoings, he did confess to his sons who reported the case to the higher authorities. Subsequently, he was arrested on the grounds of his unethical practices that wreaked significant havoc in the Royal Bank of Scotland and caused financial harm to various corporate clients.
One of his unethical practices was the Ponzi Schemes that lasted for a total of 16 years.
It is important to note that Bernie Madoff’s practices harmed small companies too. Many small-scale farmers and teachers also lost a significant chunk of their money in pursuit of something better. According to Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel; “We thought he was God.” This clearly goes to show that Madoff had created a very different image of himself in society. Wiesel wrote about her own case and emphatically stated that her foundation lost nearly $15.2 million back in 2009.
When Bernie Madoff was found guilty in 2009, he offered his sincerest apologies for concocting and pulling off a scam worth $65 billion. Last year, Madoff had requested officials to let him go in lieu of his emerging health concerns that had progressed to a kidney disease of a much higher magnitude. He further declared that he was “terminally ill” and the weight of his consequences had gotten the better of him for 11 years. Despite his well-structured request, the appeal didn’t go forward as Judge Denny Chin refused to comply, stating that a lot of victims had suffered financial losses due to Madoff.
Bernie Madoff’s history did not allow him to get a pass out of jail and he died of natural causes aged 82. His two sons had already passed away before him and thus, the only person of contact is his wife, Ruth Madoff.
