Fun With Madoff's Prison Interview

I knew as soon as I saw Bernie Madoff‘s first prison interview in the New York Times last night that my whole evening was shot.  He hasn’t spoken since they put him in his cage…until now.  I read the whole thing so you don’t have to.

Let’s play a game – you pick out which of these quotes are real and which are fake…

1.  “he asserted that unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow ‘complicit’ in his elaborate fraud, an about-face from earlier claims that he was the only person involved in the fraud.”

2.  “Mr. Madoff looked much the same as he had on the day of his sentencing, although the cornrows and tear drop tattoo were clearly recent affectations.”

3.  “Mr. Madoff in the interview pointed to the ‘willful blindness’ of many banks and hedge funds who dealt with his investment advisory business…’They had to know,’ Mr. Madoff said.”

3.  “He lashed out at what he called some of the ‘disgraceful’ coverage of the death of his son Mark, who committed suicide on Dec. 11.”

4.  “The interview ended abruptly when Ruth showed up dressed as a pile of someone else’s money for their monthly conjugal visit.”

5.  “‘I am saying that the banks and funds were complicit in one form or another and my information to Picard when he was here established this.'”

6.  “Mr. Madoff said about Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, Mr. Wilpon’s brother-in-law and business partner: ‘They knew nothing. They knew nothing.'”

7.  “Mr. Madoff appeared visibly uncomfortable when the subject of prison food came up, he complained about the ‘just OK’ brisket and the lack of Chinese food on Sunday nights.”

8.  “While Mr. Madoff said he was determined to aid the trustee’s efforts to recover assets, he was also critical of the trustee’s reach, claiming that Mr. Picard was seeking far more money than was needed to resolve valid investor claims.”

9.  “Personnel on prison grounds seemed pleased with their most famous inmate who reportedly had balanced the facility’s budget and was beginning an informal investment management consultancy to help the guards save for retirement.”

Do your best in the comments section…

Source:

In Prison Interview, Madoff Says Banks ‘Had to Know’ (NYT)