Prison Interview

Bernie Madoff's First Interview

Says banks "had to know" about fraud.

Bernard Madoff, the disgraced financier who pleaded guilty two years ago to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, says now that the banks and other large financial institutions “had to know” about his crimes. In his first public interview since being arrested in December 2008, Madoff maintained that his family members—including his son Mark, who committed suicide on the two-year anniversary of his father’s arrest—knew nothing of the massive fraud. But Madoff called the activities of the banks and hedge funds “suspicious” and said they participated in “willful blindness.” As for his victims, Madoff said he “would have loved for them not to lose anything, but that was a risk they were well aware of by investing in the market.”