“What profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?”
Today was a Netflix and chill kind of day so I caught up on this riveting limited series about disgraced Wall Street financier Bernie Madoff.
The three part documentary throughly chronicled Madoff’s early life leading up to him becoming one of Wall Street’s richest investors known for running the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion.
The fallout from Madoff’s financial fraud crimes was beyond catastrophic, not only for his innocent victims — most of whom lost their entire life savings, but for his own family. Madoff recruited his two sons and his brother to work alongside him in the business but they all denied knowing about the fraud. His sons would eventually be responsible for turning him into authorities.
In the end both his sons died. One son committed suicide and the other son died of cancer shortly after his father’s conviction.
Madoff himself was convicted and sentenced to 150 years in federal prison while his wife was left to fend for herself after forfeiting the millions of their ill gotten money and assets. She was never charged with any crimes but she was accused in the court of public opinion of knowing about her husband’s criminal activities. She was subsequently shunned and exiled from the high society communities she was once apart of for over thirty years. It is rumored that even Donald Trump refused to rent her an apartment after her husband’s conviction.
Bernie’s brother was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison. Madoff died in prison at age 82. His remains were cremated which is frowned upon in the Jewish faith.
According to the series, because of the atrocity of his crimes no one from his family ever claimed his remains. The urn containing his ashes is allegedly still sitting on a shelf in his lawyer’s office. His wife is the only living family member.
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