This article is from the archive of our partner 
.
Bernie Madoff has given his second in-person jailhouse interview, this time to the Financial Times. In the interview, which in the words of the two reporters who conducted it was "rambling," the disgraced architect of a $65 billion Ponzi scheme suggests that blue-chip banks, regulators and some of his oldest associates knew what he was up to.
Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence at the Polk Correctional Institution in Butner, NC, was in a talkative mood, especially when it came to parties he once did business with:
[He] maintained that banks, including JPMorgan Chase, primary banker for his firm, Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities, possessed sufficient account information to detect suspicious activity. He levelled similar accusations against regulators.
The question, of course, is whether Madoff is telling the truth (and if, he is, what, if anything can be done about it). Madoff invited the reporters to visit him, which is somewhat curious. He has also admitted that he lied to investigators and relatives for many years. On the other hand, prison does reform some people. And, at this point, there's not much for him to gain from lying.
Still, Madoff did not offer the reporters any proof or evidence (or anything that they could independently verify) to support his claims. Maybe he's just lonely?
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
