Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities
| Bernard Madoff | |
|---|---|
U.S. Department of Justice photograph, 2009
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| Born |
Bernard Lawrence Madoff April 29, 1938 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Hofstra University |
| Occupation | Stock broker, investment adviser, financier, former chairman of NASDAQ |
| Employer | Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities |
| Known for | Ponzi scheme, chairman of NASDAQ (prior) |
| Criminal charge | Securities fraud, investment advisor fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, false statements, perjury, making false filings with the SEC, theft from an employee benefit plan |
| Criminal penalty | 150 years imprisonment and forfeiture of $17.179 billion |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated at Butner Federal Correctional Institution; Federal Bureau of Prisons Register #61727-054; scheduled date of release: November 14, 2139 |
| Spouse(s) | Ruth Madoff (m. 1959) |
| Children | Mark Madoff (1964–2010) Andrew Madoff (1966–2014) |
| Conviction(s) | March 12, 2009 (pleaded guilty) |
Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff (/ˈmeɪdɒf/; born April 29, 1938) is an American fraudster and a former stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. Prosecutors estimated the size of the fraud to be $64.8 billion, based on the amounts in the accounts of Madoff's 4,800 clients as of November 30, 2008.
Madoff founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960, and was its chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008. The firm was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street, which bypassed "specialist" firms by directly executing orders over the counter from retail brokers. At the firm, he employed his brother Peter as senior managing director and chief compliance officer, Peter's daughter Shana Madoff, as the firm's rules and compliance officer and attorney, and his sons Andrew and Mark. Peter has since been sentenced to 10 years in prison and Mark committed suicide by hanging exactly two years after his father's arrest. Andrew died of lymphoma on September 3, 2014.
On December 10, 2008, Madoff's sons told authorities that their father had confessed to them that the asset management unit of his firm was a massive Ponzi scheme, and quoted him as describing it as "one big lie". The following day, FBI agents arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had previously conducted multiple investigations into Madoff's business practices, but had not uncovered the massive fraud.
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