Bernie Madoff Says He Was 'Trapped into the Greed of Others'
In other words, he's a victim, here
Charlie Gasparino has been talking to Bernie Madoff, who is two years into a life sentence at a federal penitentiary in North Carolina, and his latest report on what's going through the Ponzi schemer's head is fascinating. Madoff goes to great lengths to explain how corruption is just what happens on Wall Street, and the bizarre quotes he offers up at Fox Business make the entire report more than worthwhile:
- "I made a terrible mistake with the help of others but the fact that these other complicit parties were complicit does not excuse me for allowing myself to be trapped into the greed of others. The only reason my LARGE investors continued to give me money was they all believed that I was front running (illegally trading ahead of customers) like everyone else and they felt this explained my consistent performance."
- "If it was my intention to steal people's money as is being depicted, I would have taken the 5 billion in cash and financial instruments that was in my Chase and BNY bank accounts and disappeared. I certainly had the time and Banking connections to accomplish this once I realized that I could not dig out of my hole."
- "It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the financial services industry is so corrupt and stacked against the typical investor."
Gasparino also talked to a psychologist about these kinds of response. "Madoff developed an artificial sense of reality," replied Dr. Keith Albow. "Now even in prison he is trying to do the same thing."
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.