Madoff Claims Banks Were Complicit in Ponzi Scheme

In his first interview since his 2009 incarceration, the notorious swindler said banks and hedge funds “had to know” he was up to something.

Admittedly he’s not the most reliable source, but if you believe Bernie Madoff the executives in charge of the banks and hedge funds he used to bilk investors of $85 billion knowingly turned a blind eye to his crimes. Many observers have questioned why the sophisticated financial minds he did business with failed to detect his scheme, which lasted 16 years. None of the bank executives have been charged with crimes, although investigators have found evidence they were suspicious of Madoff and yet continued to recommend their clients invest with him. Madoff, who is in the second year of a 150-year jail sentence, is reportedly cooperating with investigators to help recover some of the money investors lost.