Son: Bernie Madoff Used Me as ‘Human Shield’
Bernie Madoff’s son reportedly said the Ponzi con man used him as a “human shield” to convince clients his business was legitimate.
Andrew Madoff, who ran a real trading operation while his father faked investiments, told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that his father brought prospective clients to the son’s 19th-floor office to cover up the scam, The New York Post reported
“It was one of the hardest things to, to come to grips with, in trying to get my head around this, was that feeling that I had been used … as a human shield by him,” Andrew Madoff told “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday night.
“It’s unforgivable. No, no father should do that to their sons,” he said.
Ruth Madoff, 70, says she will never be able to live down the humiliation of the scheme.
“I feel the shame,’’ she told the CBS show. “I can barely walk down the street without worrying about people recognizing me.”
Ruth Madoff told The New York Times in a separate interview that she never considered dumping Bernie Madoff after the scam was revealed.
“I couldn’t abandon the man with whom I spent essentially my entire life,” she told the paper.
Bernie Madoff is doing 150 years in prison for the $60 billion rip-off. His loved ones insist they had no clue about the scheme.
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