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At the peak of the monetary disaster in 2008, the world watched as lots of Wall Street’s high establishments, funding companies, and financiers had been uncovered for something from predatory lending to ill-fated danger taking and fraud. Among those that fell from grace throughout this time was Bernard “Bernie” Madoff, who — on the time — was the chairman of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and revered within the inventory and funding world. Netflix’s newest docuseries, “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street,” takes a deep dive into the life and crimes of Madoff, who went down in historical past because the mastermind behind the world’s largest Ponzi scheme.
Throughout the Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties, Madoff’s firm exploded, and he shortly grew to become recognized on Wall Street. Along with establishing his funding agency, Madoff helped develop digital buying and selling platforms like NASDAQ. By the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s, he even had movie star clientele, together with Larry King, Kevin Bacon, and Steven Spielberg. His longtime success, nonetheless, was a entrance. Behind the scenes, Madoff was working a Ponzi scheme, which might in the end con each common and well-known individuals out of a mixed $65 million, per The New York Times.
To put cash in his personal pockets and defraud hundreds of individuals, Madoff would persuade victims to offer their cash to him to spend money on numerous shares for them, promising a big return on their funding. However, Madoff by no means invested the cash, and when somebody would ask to withdraw their earnings, he would use the cash from a brand new sufferer to pay their “return.” When the financial system took a flip for the more severe and the nation fell right into a recession in 2008, lots of Madoff’s purchasers wished their a refund, and when he did not have it to offer, the lid on his longtime rip-off was lifted.
When his crimes had been revealed, Madoff insisted he acted alone, however that did not cease the press from zeroing in on Madoff’s rapid household, together with his spouse, Ruth, and his sons, Andrew and Mark, who labored alongside him at his agency. Despite being those who tipped off authorities about their father, Andrew and Mark confronted unrelenting hypothesis about their involvement within the scheme, which might have an effect on them within the years after Madoff’s arrest.
In mild of “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street”‘s premiere, this is what occurred to Madoff and his household after his money-making rip-off got here crashing down.
What Happened to Bernie Madoff?
After confessing to his sons that his total enterprise was constructed on a fraudulent rip-off (he notably revealed “it is all only one huge lie”), Madoff was arrested by two FBI brokers in his New York City residence on Dec. 11, 2008, in keeping with Reuters.
At the time of his arrest, Madoff was charged with only one rely of securities fraud, however he would later plead responsible to 11 counts of cash laundering, fraud, theft, and perjury in 2009, as reported by CNBC. He was sentenced to 150 years in jail and allegedly earned $710 for the three,000 hours of labor he accomplished throughout his 12-year sentence.
On April 14, 2021, Madoff died in jail on the age of 82 from pure causes, although he had been ultimately levels of renal illness for a minimum of a yr earlier than his dying, per the Associated Press.
What Happened to Mark Madoff?
Madoff’s oldest son, Mark Madoff, by no means spoke to his father after his arrest in 2008. Though he was by no means formally charged or arrested for working together with his father, Mark was the middle of an intense press storm that continually speculated in regards to the diploma of his involvement within the scheme. According to The New York Times, he was additionally the topic of a number of lawsuits from trustees who sought compensation for Madoff’s victims.
In the years after the Ponzi scheme was revealed, Mark reportedly skilled bother discovering a job and suffered mentally from the scandal’s fallout, which included damaged relationships with childhood mates who’d misplaced their life financial savings.
On Dec. 11, 2010, precisely two years after Madoff’s arrest, Mark died by suicide in his New York City residence. He is survived by his widow, Stephanie, and 4 youngsters.
What Happened to Andrew Madoff?
Like his brother, Mark, Andrew Madoff labored onerous to sever ties together with his father and brazenly condemned his actions to the press. Andrew vehemently denied realizing about any fraudulent exercise from both his father or different agency staff, although he was additionally the topic of many lawsuits and media hypothesis. In a 2011 interview with “60 Minutes: Overtime,” Andrew revealed, “I want none of this was actual. You know, I knew completely nothing about this earlier than my father shared the data with us. And it was essentially the most stunning and horrible second of my life.”
Andrew’s destiny, nonetheless, would additionally finish tragically. On Sept. 3, 2014, he died from mantle-cell lymphoma, a uncommon type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, per The Washington Post. He is survived by his associate, Catherine Hooper, and his two youngsters.
Where Is Bernie Madoff’s Wife, Ruth Madoff, Now?
Ruth Madoff was by no means charged with any crimes regarding her husband. Over the years, she distanced herself from him publicly, although she by no means formally divorced him. She expressed in a 2011 interview with NBC’s “Today” that she didn’t miss Madoff, saying, “The villain of all that is behind bars.”
Following his arrest, she moved to Florida for 2 years earlier than shifting to Old Greenwich, CT, as reported by NBC New York. Despite shedding practically $70 million in belongings, Ruth was in a position to keep afloat and stay comfortably.
As of April 2021, Ruth resides in a waterfront mansion in Old Greenwich, which is allegedly value $3.8 million, per The New York Post.
Watch the trailer for “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street,” and catch the sequence streaming now on Netflix.
