AP source: Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff dies in prison
In this Tuesday, March 10, 2009, file photo, former financier Bernie Madoff exits federal court in Manhattan, in New York. Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, has died in prison, a person familiar with the matter tells The Associated Press.[AP Photo/David Karp]
Bernie Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, has died in prison.
A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Madoff died at the federal medical center in Butner, North Carolina, apparently of natural causes.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Last year, Madoff’s lawyers filed court papers to try to get the 82-year-old released from prison in the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he had suffered from end-stage renal disease and other chronic medical conditions.
The request was denied.
Madoff admitted swindling thousands of clients out of billions of dollars in investments over decades.
A court-appointed trustee has recovered more than $13 billion of an estimated $17.5 billion that investors put into Madoff’s business. At the time of his arrest, fake account statements were telling clients they had holdings worth $60 billion.