The mastermind of the biggest pyramid scheme of the story, Bernie Madoff, died in prison at the age of 82the US Bureau of Prisons (BoP) reported on Tuesday.
“We can confirm that Bernard Madoff died on April 14, 2021 at Butner Federal Medical Center in North Carolina,” a BoP spokesperson said in an email.
The statement specified that the cCauses of death must be determined by a medical examiner.
Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009 for defrauding tens of thousands of people in various countries of the world.
The total value of the scam was estimated at up to US$63 billion.
Last February Madoff’s lawyer had reported that his client was terminally ill and he didn’t want to die in prison.
According to the attorney, Brandon Sample, Madoff suffered from “end-stage kidney disease, among other serious illnesses.”
“The Bureau of Prisons concluded in September 2019 that Madoff has less than 18 months to live due to the terminal nature of his kidney failure,” Sample wrote in pleading for clemency.
The Washington Post reported then that Madoff required 24-hour medical care and was only transported in a wheelchair.
Madoff’s plea for mercy, who wanted to make amends with his grandchildren and die at home, was denied by the BoP.
“I’ve spent 11 years in prison and quite frankly, I can say I’ve suffered through it,” Madoff said in an interview with the Post.
“There hasn’t been a single day in prison that I don’t feel guilty for the pain I’ve caused the victims and my family,” he said.
A pyramid scheme or Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud that constantly requires fresh investment from new victims to pay profits to older investors. Cash from new investors is used to pay existing clients until the scheme eventually collapses.
The Madoff fraud was exposed in 2008, when the financier could no longer meet the growing demand from clients who wanted to withdraw their investments. Many lost their money.
Madoff never invested a penny of the money his clients entrusted him with.
US authorities have seized some $4 billion linked to Madoff and hope to return this money to his tens of thousands of victims.
The Madoff Victims Fund will make payments to more than 30,000 people worldwide who were defrauded by the financier between the 1970s and 2000s, according to the Justice Department.
AFP
