Butner, NC – In his fifth interview since going to jail in 2009, Bernie Madoff discusses the victims of his Ponzi scheme, politics and his life behind bars.
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In an interview with Politico.com (http://politi.co/1miZZUw) at the correctional facility in Butner, N.C. where Madoff is serving his 150-year sentence, he says he is sorry for what he did, but doesn’t consider himself a bad person, just a person who made a “horrible mistake.” He warns that there are others out there like himself who will try to get away with a Ponzi scheme.
He also feels his crimes have been inflated and he hasn’t received any acknowledgment for his efforts to recover money for his victims. Madoff says Irving Picard, the trustee who was charged with supervising the recovery of lost money, will take all the credit.
In response to being asked if he expresses remorse about the heavy-handed devastation his Jewish clients experienced, he said, “I don’t feel that I betrayed the Jews.”
Madoff explained that he does not have kidney cancer as previously incorrectly reported and his health is under control. Despite being “constantly bored,” he says his adjustment to prison life hasn’t been that bad, but the hardest part is the estrangement from his family, stating, “I don’t have anything to live for.”
Madoff had close political ties and before his Ponzi scheme was uncovered, he donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, mostly to Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, ex-New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, Rep. Joseph Crowley, Sen. Jeff Merkley and Hillary Clinton. Madoff said Schumer would ask him for money a few times a year.
Approached in a Senate hallway last week, Schumer refused to discuss Madoff.
Madoff now thinks politics and people would be better off if politicians weren’t so easily influenced by money.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March 2009 to investment and securities fraud. A jury in New York is now deliberating after a five-month trial whether five of Madoff’s former employees were in on the fraud. Madoff denies their involvement.
Mr. Madoff is like a squirrel. He wants his nuts and tramples his own grave. This guy is as meshuganah as a highway to the bottom of the sea. Good to know he feels some remorse against Israel huh? Its not like he betrayed the little jewish kids growing up who will hear of him for decades to come. He also destroyed the Values of Torah and succumbed to his own evil inclination in such a way that even the focus of a jew who left Germany could note that Mr. Madoff has not found his own salvation. Good to see a fool remain a fool in his own ways because he has no captivity for higher learning. A drop of wisdom will form for someone else.
Of course he did not “betray the Jews” he betrayed everyone who invested money in his outfit, yidden and goyim alike.
As crazy as it sounds I do feel bad for the guy. I think he is honestly remorsefull and never meant to harm anyone. He just got himself in a pickle. I don’t wish his situation upon anyone.
He didn’t betray the Jews, we betrayed him! If only more and more Jews kept investing more and more money, nothing bad would have happened! Well, at some point, but only after he was dead.
He can still do teshuva, nothing stands in the way of teshuva. If he’d had a Rav to ask he might have gotten himself out of his pit while there was still time. Even now he has a lot to offer the world, he has a brilliant understanding of the financial system which he could use for the benefit of society.
I think he realizes that the people who invested with him knew that he was a fraud but they looked away because of their greediness. Money means everything these days. I don’t feel bad for him, but I also don’t feel bad for his investors who really knew something was up but thought that they were laughing all the way to the bank. There might have been a few naive people who put their trust into other people to invest for them, but the majority of the people who invested with him knew it was too good to be true.
Madoff is a shmutz. Like most meglomaniacs he still feels he’s a “good person” despite his many crimes, the estrangement of his family & suicide of his son. And there are still $ billions missing, robbed from others.
according to the Torah laws, he is obligated to pay back what he stole or be sold into slavery for 7 (really six) years. It is a shame that murderers get less time than him.
Bad enough he stole people’s life savings; but supporting the most liberal democrats, that’s unforgivable and there’s can be no teshuva for that!
If you have not already read that book, “Wizard of Lies,” you should. Even I could understand the complexities of the scam when explained so clearly.
Amazing, he shows no remorse, and even wants credit for recovering some of the money HE stole. This, folks, is what a psychopath is.