Officials dispute the claim the man behind a $65 billion Ponzi scheme is near death
Bernie Madoff might not serve much of his 150-year sentence after all. According to the disgraced investment adviser’s fellow inmates, Madoff is dying of cancer. “He talks about it all the time,” a prisoner at the North Carolina prison told the New York Post, adding that Madoff is taking “about 20 pills a day” for the disease. Madoff’s rumoured illness is thought to explain why he took the entire blame for a $65 billion Ponzi scheme that bilked several wealthy investors out of their entire life savings. Meanwhile, since arriving at the federal prison, Madoff is said to be spending most of his time participating in Native American ceremonies and working as a painter.
UPDATE: Correctional authorities say reports Madoff is terminally ill are wrong. “While the N.Y. Post story is full of inaccuracies, and we can’t specifically address all of them, we can tell you that Bernie Madoff is not terminally ill, and has not been diagnosed with cancer,” Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said in a statement.