Barbara Walters Exposes Bernie Madoff

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 28, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

     When ABC’s News special editor-at-large Barbara Walters sat down with all-time 73-year-old Wall Street swindler Bernie Madoff, the interview produced some unexpected surprises.  Madoff said he was forced to “let . . . go” of his 71-year-old wife Ruth, leaving him “nightmares” serving a life-sentence in a medium-security North Carolina federal prison  “Not seeing my family and knowing they hate me,”  Madoff told Walters was the most difficult thing, admitting he “can live with” the fuming anger from the countless, faceless investors defrauded out of $65 billion, by far Wall Street’s biggest investment scam.  Madoff ran a complex Ponzi scheme, taking in new investors’ cash to pay for old investors seeking to cash out.  When the market crashed in 2008, Madoff received slews of requests to liquidate portfolios, exposing the investment scam when it ran out of cash.

            Now serving a 150-yeasr sentence at Club Fed, Madoff gave an exclusive interview, trying to explain his investment scheme’s logic and feelings for the countless numbers he duped and defrauded.  “I am sorry to have caused them pain,” said Madoff, referring to the grief encountered by his relatives.  He said its was easier to live with the pain he caused untold numbers of wealth investors, seeking to get richer off his devious investment scam.  “I feel safer here than the outside,” said Madoff, referring to his confinement behind bars in federal prison.  “Days go by.  I have people to talk to and no decisions to make . . . I know that I will die in prison.  I lived the last 20 years of my life in fear.  Now I have no fear—nothing to think about because I’m no longer in control of my own life,” showing how he’s adapted to prison life.   Madoff knows that if he walked free, his life would be over

            Madoff’s record Wall Street scam holds many mysteries, especially why he didn’t flee the country seeking asylum in Israel.  Other swindlers, like former President Bill Clinton billionaire booster Marc Rich, fled the country, only to receive a presidential pardon at the end of Clinton’s last term.  Madoff could have fled the country before he was turned in to the FBI Dec. 10, 2008 by his two sons, Mark, [committed suicide, Dec. 11, 2010 at age 46] and Andrew, 45, both decided to rat-out their father.  Mark’s wife Stephanie Madoff Mack blames Bernie for her husband’s death.  “I’d spit in his face,” Stephanie told ABC News, not recognizing the fact that her husband was disturbed on his own.  Bernie admitted to Walters that he and his wife Ruth, tried to kill themselves on Christmas Eve 2010 with an Ambien overdose.  If Madoff’s family were truly oblivious to his scam why would Ruth try to kill herself or Mark commit suicide?

            Guilt for turning in his father can’t by itself account for Mark’s suicide.  Nor can it explain why his 70-year-old wife Ruth would also try to end her life.  Despite the alleged betrayal by both his sons, the Security and Exchange Commission and FBI were close to cracking Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.  It’s more likely that both Mark and Andrew were contacted by the FBI and told if they didn’t come clean, they’d also get fitted for stainless steel bracelets.  Both sang like canaries because they were implicated in their father’s investment scam.  Ruth “asked me to let her go, which I understood,” said Madoff immediately after Mark’s death.  Ruth and all the Madoff family insist they knew nothing of her husband’s fraud.  Yet Ruth popped numerous Ambiens once they both knew an arrest was imminent.  “Ruth doesn’t hate me . . “ said Madoff, a sure sign she knew of the scam.

                 Saying he’s “lucky to be sane,” Madoff give free X-Ray into the psychopathic nature of his personality.  He’s shows no guilt for the thousands of investors that lost their shirts.  “The average person thinks I robbed widows and orphans,” said Madoff.  “I made wealthy people wealthier,” showing the kind of mental gymnastics that exposes his conscienceless core.  Despite telling Walters he deserved to be punished, Madoff shows little remorse for his acts of piracy.  Madoff isn’t lucky to be “sane,” he’s lucky to be alive because he’s safely tucked away behind bars.  If he had his freedom, there’s little doubt he’d wind up like Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.  While he credits a female prison psychologist with keeping his sanity, psychopaths like Madoff are too selfish to commit suicide.  His only remorse comes from the fact he was exposed, caught and convicted of fraud.  

             Madoff’s survival skills stem from his cosmic sense of entitlement to fleece hapless victims for his own gain.  His apparent “love” for his wife and family come from how they once served his insatiable need for money and power.  Suggesting that his family didn’t know perpetuates a fairytale allowing them to walk the streets, when, in reality, they should all be behind bars.  “I understand why clients hate me,” said Madoff.  “The gravy train is over.  I can live with that,” revealing the kind or callous indifference that made Madoff a cold-blooded con man.  Spending life in Club Fed isn’t the kind of punishment appropriate for a con artist like Madoff.  Venting to a prison psychologist offers few insights and insults Madoff’s victims now suffering because of his fraud and misrepresentation.  While Madoff says he deserves his punishment, con men aren’t the ones that deserve the empathy.

John M. Curtis /b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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