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Bernie Madoff Denies Singling Out Jews in Ponzi Scheme
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Bernard Madoff. Photo: Wiki Commons.
Convicted felon Bernie Madoff refuted any suggestion that he specifically betrayed Jews in his infamous Ponzi scheme, Politco reported on Thursday.
“I don’t feel any worse for a Jewish person than I do for a Catholic person. Religion has nothing to do with it,” he said.
The Jewish former financier, 75, is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina prison for operating the Ponzi scheme that is conservatively estimated to have stolen $18 billion.
Speaking to Politico from his jail cell, he said, “I don’t feel that I betrayed the Jews, I betrayed people.”
“I betrayed people that put trust in me — certainly the Jewish community. I’ve made more money for Jewish people and charities than I’ve lost,” he said.
Madoff began his Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s. He told Politico he never wanted his deception to go as far as it did. He “wishes people could understand,” he said, asserting that it was never his intention to deceive his clients for so long.
“I don’t believe I’m a bad person. I did a lot of good for people. I made huge sums of money for some people,” he explained. “It wasn’t just for money. I already had huge amounts of money. It wasn’t to buy yachts or homes. I had that from the beginning from legitimate money I made.”
