The Rise and Fall of Madoff's Ponzi Scheme

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

News

4.7 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After Bernie Madoff’s death, we dig into how he pulled off one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history. Reporter Steve Fishman explores what lessons the fallen financier’s story holds for today. Madoff duped thousands of investors out of tens of billions of dollars, and his scam rocked Wall Street for years.

Fishman, who spent years interviewing investors, regulators and even Madoff himself from inside federal prison, traces the rise and fall of his scheme. We learn how Madoff pulled it off and why nobody caught on for decades. We also hear from experts who say investors still are vulnerable to financial fraud, especially in the era of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

This show was originally broadcast Feb. 3, 2018.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Alan. I hope 2022 has been a good year for you. But to be honest, it's been a tough one for us.
0:08.0	This year, Reveal was struck by a financial crisis that jeopardized our very existence.
0:14.0	But we've rallied, and all the while that was happening, our staff forged ahead to produce ambitious investigations
0:22.0	that exposed corruption and abuses that the powerful interests did not want revealed.
0:27.0	Because that's what we do. If we're going to keep telling these kind of stories though, we're going to need support from you.
0:34.0	To support fearless investigative nonprofit journalism, please donate by December 31st.
0:41.0	Just visit revealnews.org slash 2023. Again, to donate to the show and to support our work into the future.
0:48.0	Please visit revealnews.org slash 2023. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
1:03.0	From the Center for Investigative Reporting in PRX, this is reveal. I'm Al Etzen.
1:09.0	Bernie made off. Just hearing the name makes you think of scandal and greed.
1:15.0	Bernie died this month while serving 150 year prison sense for creating a massive Ponzi scheme that costs investors tens of billions of dollars.
1:26.0	A few years ago, we did a show about made off. With someone who got to know him pretty well, a guy named Steve Fishman, who at the time on the bar in Brooklyn, New York.
1:36.0	So it is a chilly Friday. It's gray outside. We are not far from Prospect Park. What's the name of the bar we're going to?
1:47.0	It's Erbs on Beatman.
1:49.0	That's producer Fernanda Camarena. And today, we're bringing back the show we put together.
1:54.0	Right across the street here.
1:57.0	Yeah, let's do it.
2:00.0	How are you? How are you? How are you?
2:05.0	How are you? How are you?
2:07.0	Did you get that greet you from behind the bar? Nice, nice, nice. What do you got here lined up here?
2:10.0	Well, I got you shot at Bourbon. Obviously, that's the way you start all your interviews.
2:14.0	Cheers.
	...

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