Ruth Madoff Asked Bernie, 'What's A Ponzi Scheme?,' As He Confessed
Posted on Oct 31, 2011 @ 02:00AM
By Adam S. Levy,
Radar Staff Writer
Ruth Madoff didn’t even know what a ponzi scheme was until her husband Bernie came clean to the family about his $65 billion con in 2008, her son Andrew told 60 Minutes Sunday, where he and his mother discussed the family’s fall from high society power brokers to shame, jail and suicide.
Ruth, 70, told Morley Safer her life has been forever changed the past three years, as she "can barely walk down the street without worrying about people recognizing me."
She insisted she had no knowledge her now-incarcerated husband was perpetrating America's worst ever financial scam.
"I trusted him -- ‘Why would it ever occur to me that it wasn't legal?" she said. "The business was -- his reputation was almost legendary. Why would I ever think that there was something sinister going on?"
Andrew, 45, said he didn't understand -- but deeply resented -- why Bernie recruited he and his late brother Mark into his tainted business.
"That's something that -- that I really agonize over, as a son," he said. "What my father did was so horrible. It's hard for me to understand that and I'm not any closer to understanding it now than I was three years ago."
Andrew said he felt that he and his brother "had been used almost as as a human shield by" their father.
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"It's unforgivable," he said. "No father should do that to their sons."
The family laid out the events of the December 2008 day Bernie came clean to them.
"He called from the office and said, 'I'm coming home with the boys, I have something to talk about,'” Ruth remembered. “Came in, we went into a room, four of us, and he said, 'I have a confession to make. I've been running a Ponzi scheme ... $50 billion dollars.’"
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Andrew recalled the details of the shocking confession.
"He said, 'Everything I've been doing is all a big lie,'" Andrew said. "He said, 'The business is a Ponzi scheme and the firm is completely insolvent. And I'm broke. And then he just started sobbing. And I was shocked ... I don't think if he had told me he was an alien I could've been more surprised."
Andrew said Ruth didn't even know the basics of the financial scheme some will always associate the family name with.
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"She looked shocked -- she asked, 'What's a Ponzi scheme?' -- she didn't even understand that.
"I think it was me who answered and said that, 'It means that it's all fake. That Dad's not been doing what he says he's been doing.' And he followed that up and said, 'Yes. I've been lying to all of you -- all of these years. I've been lying to everybody. I've been lying to myself.'"
Andrew said his late brother Mark "was trembling with rage -- he was absolutely furious.
"Mark was the first one to stand up and said, you know, 'I'm outta here,'" he recalled. “And he stormed outta the room."
As we previously reported, Bernie's oldest son Mark hanged himself last December -- on the second anniversary of his father's arrest -- in his Manhattan loft, as his 2-year-old son slept in the next room.
In the emotional appearance, Ruth said she holds herself accountable for her son's death at 46, because she kept in touch with Bernie against his wishes.
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"I just wish, until my dying day, that I had done what he wanted," Ruth said. "I don't know if it would have made a difference or not, but if I could change things, at least if I had tried, I would have felt a little better. I don't know if it would have mattered.
"It's the most awful thing that can happen to anybody -- suicide of a child."
Watch the video on RadarOnline.com
Bernie Madoff -- convicted of eleven felonies -- is behind bars at the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner in North Carolina, serving a 150-year sentence.
Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family, a tell-all book endorsed by the family, is in stores now.
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The Daily Juice
Nov 01, 2011 @ 19:00
I have no sympathy for the 1% that were dumb enough to invest in this scheme. They got burned and now
all those that lost big time, let them go out and find a real Job! Sound familar??
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 4:09pm
It showed his character, true character, that he bashed Mark after his suicide. Loved it at the end of the interview when it was noted that they weren't making a dime from the book, oh wait his fiance is who did the deal.
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 3:51pm
she left with 2.5 million and ignored the court orders. poor ruthless. read the madoff chronicles. they all knew. andrew is still bashing mark in the book.
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:25pm
I feel horrible for all the victims (including the Madoff family). I don't understand why he recruited his sons into the "business" either. Ruth's sister had to declare bankruptcy. The Madoff's have suffered horribly. Hope Bernie rots in hell.
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:11pm
I feel bad for the sons who tried to do the right thing by turning in their dad ..they suffered anyways and the little 2 year old who lost his dad..it took his childhood away and the whole thing just bothers me with all the damage to so many people
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:44am
He must if had a big rush the first time he did it which led to doing more and the huge disaster happened and how many people started with that first drink or the first shot of drugs or first affair etc. and all those roads lead to ruin in time..
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:36am
and why did so many rich people take such a chance? Larry King was hardly needing any more money but he did it and so did so many others..have we no common sense or wisdom or even a tiny clue?
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:32am
This is exactly what I don't understand. I can see investing some of your money naively but ALL of your money???? Even I know you never, ever put all your money in one place.
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 12:13pm
I hope people think before they get into something stupid after reading all about what happened to him...I think it can happen to a lot of people but they dont think it will. Some people start smoking one cigarette a day and end up 3 packs a day..
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:30am
It makes me wonder why he got into it and ended up like he did...did he not have the idea he could end up in a disaster he would never escape? I think a lot of people play around with things that snowball and they can't figure out what happened
Posted Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:28am