The mastermind of the biggest fraudulent investment scheme in America’s history has reportedly died in prison.
Bernard Lawrence Madoff, an American marketer, investment advisor, financier and convicted fraudster, died at age 82, multiple local US media reports revealed.
He had been served with a US federal prison sentence for offenses connected to a massive Ponzi scheme.
Madoff was born on April 29, 1938 in Queens, New York, United.
He was convicted for the alleged fraudulent activities on March 12, 2009 and pleaded guilty.
His children include Mark Madoff, Andrew Madoff. His grandchildren are Nicholas Madoff, Anne Madoff, Daniel Madoff, Kate Madoff, Emily Madoff,
Reports say he passed away at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina.
He is believed to have died from natural causes. His death comes after his lawyers failed to get him release from prison in 2020 over coronavirus fear.
It would be recalled that his lawyers had argued that he at high risk of Covid-19. The lawyers had also indicated that he was battling kidney disease and other medical conditions.
He had admitted to defrauding thousands of unsuspecting investors who pumped in billions of dollars into his fraudulent businesses.
Investors lost an estimated $17.5 billion to Madoff’s business.
So far, according to the Associated Press, a court-appointed trustee has recovered more than $13 billion of an estimated $17.5 billion that investors put into Madoff’s business, Midas touch.
Accordingly, at the time of his arrest, fake bank statements revealed to clients that they were owning shares worth about $60 billion.
His business fraudulent activities were exposed in 2008 as a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
While pleading guilty in 2009, Madoff said he was “deeply sorry and ashamed.”
A former investor, Tom Fitzmaurice informed the judge at Madoff sentencing that “He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values. He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife … could live a life of luxury beyond belief.”
A similar Ponzi scheme, Menzgold was exposed in Ghana a few years ago. Several clients lost their funds running into millions of Ghana cedis but the founder of the scheme, Nana Appiah Mensah, remains a free man.
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