Bernard "Bernie" Madoff, former Chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, started his own penny stock investment advisory firm in 1960 with $5000. In 2008, he was charged and pleaded guilty to defrauding investors in the amount of over $50 billion, running the largest Ponzi scheme on record over at least two decades. What Bernard Madoff Did In early December 2008, at the height of the U.S. economic meltdown, people of every professional and social standard found themselves scrambling to liquidate funds across accounts. Many of Madoff's clients were no exception, but when his investors came calling, he couldn't answer their cash requests. Under mounting pressure Madoff came clean, admitting massive investment fraud affecting many people--including high-profile investors--and knocking Wall Street and the world back on its heels. Who Madoff Defrauded Madoff enjoyed an exemplary reputation in the financial community. His investors came from all walks of life and trusted him implicitly with their fund's management. Some of Madoff's more illustrious investors included a charitable organization funded by Steven Spielberg, actor Kevin Bacon and the owners of the New York Mets. Large banks and pension funds such as Spanish bank Banco Santander; HSBC; Royal Bank of Scotland; and Korea Teachers Pension were scammed by Madoff as well. Some of Madoff's individual investors ended up on the street, living out of cars and RVs. The Wall Street Journal developed a list of all Madoff's victims. What Happened to Madoff and the Money Madoff pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud, among others, and was sentenced to 150 years in a maximum-security prison. The courts are still sorting through Madoff's financial records in the wake of his arrest and indictment, trying to decide restitution and distribution to his investors with the money they can find. Still in prison, Madoff maintains that the big banks defrauded in his scheme were complicit.

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There have been no convictions of major banks or Madoff associates As of 2019 Madoff is still in prison serving out his 150 year sentence The court appointed trustee recovered over 13 billion of the s... View the full answer