Bernard Madoff exits the Manhattan federal court house in New York in this January 14, 2009 file photo. Photo: Reuters / Brendan McDermid.
In what has been called the scam of the century, Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme resulted in a loss of $64.8 billion (including false gains he reported for clients) and $19 billion of actual money that was given to him. He guaranteed consistent returns regardless of what was taking place on Wall Street, and the new Netflix documentary, “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street” details his evil.
The film includes interviews with former employees, experts, and analysts — and video interviews of Madoff, his wife, and sons. It even features a brief clip of Elie Wiesel talking about his reaction to the scam. The powerful documentary answers some of the questions regarding how Madoff could get away with the fraud for so long — partly by having a legitimate business, but then having an illegitimate side business where he pretended to be making investments with people’s money when he was not actually doing so.
One interviewee says Madoff was trusted among other Jews because he was Jewish.
Madoff died behind bars at the age of 82.
Here are nine of the most maddening moments from this powerful documentary.
1.Was the SEC Deaf or Blind?
From 2000 to 2008, finance expert and investigator Harry Markopoloss warned the Securities and Exchange Commission, known as the SEC, that Madoff’s posted returns were not mathematically possible, and he…
