Madoff Suddenly Feels The Need To Speak

In a New York magazine interview, Bernard Madoff claimed little responsibility for his illegal Ponzi scheme, defending his character and passing blame to both banks and investors for their greed. The disgraced 72 year old former trader, who was sentenced to 150 years in prison for his orchestration of an illegal investment Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of some $40 billion, spoke out that banks and funds "had to know" that something was wrong. Suggesting banks knew his investments were potentially illegal, Madoff commented that "I wouldn't give them any facts, like how much volume I was doing. I was not willing to have them come up and do the due diligence that they wanted. I absolutely refused to do it. I said, 'You don't like it, take your money out,' Which of course they never did." Since his indictment and subsequent investigation, nearly $10 billion in that money has been recouped. Madoff additionally went after investors, saying that "everyone was greedy. I just went along." He also remarked that "the whole US government is a Ponzi scheme." Madoff attempted to defend his character, noting that "I made a lot of money for my clients." He continued, "Does anybody want to hear that I had a successful business and did all these wonderful things for the industry? And got all these awards? And so did my family? I did all of this during the legitimate years. No. You don't read any of that." Victims felt deeply wronged by Madoff's statements, and weighed in. Stephanie Halio, who lost her retirement fund due to Madoff's scheme, remarked that "the man is a monster, a liar, a thief with absolutely no morals, no regrets, no shame. And he portrays his victims as greedy?" Madoff additionally spoke about about the effect of his prosecution on his family, bringing up his wife's lack of forgiveness and his sons' subsequent estrangement. One son committed suicide in the aftermath of the scandal. Said Madoff: "I destroyed my family."