Madoff (2016) s01e02 Episode Script

1 - You know how I look at you? - How? As a guy who doubled my money in six years.
$388,693,119.
Total of cash accounts as of 9:00 a.
m.
this morning.
Irving trusted you.
Dad, why won't you just let us in? I'll know when you're ready.
Have you ever heard of Bernard L.
Madoff? Yeah, sure.
He's got a good reputation.
In his investment firm, only 4% of his months are down months.
Are you saying he's insider trading? I'm accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme.
We got a problem, Bernie.
They had all kinds of questions about how you handled their money.
How long are you people gonna be here, huh? You're sick, aren't you? - Mantle cell lymphoma.
- Ohh.
The most humiliating moment they could choose to take me down at my own niece's wedding.
Hava nagila, hava My own niece's wedding.
This was the moment they'd chosen to take me down.
Those smug, sniveling SEC agents.
Nothing better to do than to try to humiliate me.
I was 13 years old when my dad's sporting-goods business went bankrupt.
My dad's failure was humiliating.
But it was the look on our neighbors' faces the look of pity that was unacceptable.
And I made a vow to myself that day that nobody would ever look at me like that.
I was gonna make more money than anyone in Laurelton could even imagine.
They weren't just gonna respect me.
They were gonna honor me.
They were gonna admire me.
Nobody would ever pity Bernie Madoff.
How would my family look at me when the SEC arrested me? Could I hold my head up high? Would I still be the magician? This was my worst nightmare coming true.
Mr.
Madoff? Mr.
Madoff.
Yeah.
Uh, David Green.
Yeah.
SEC lawyer.
So, how's life? How do you mean? Um, well, I think life's a pretty funny business.
I'm gonna go get my wife.
Unless you have something else to tell me.
Actually, I do.
And that is? Congratulations.
On what? Oh, they didn't tell you yet? Cat's out of the bag now, I guess.
Uh, they cleared you.
You still have to register as an adviser, but that's it.
It's over.
Congratulations on your niece's wedding.
One phone call.
"Hello, DTC? What do you mean, there are no securities in the Madoff account?" That's all they had to do.
A secretary could have done it! And the financial-enforcement arm of the Federal government of the greatest nation on Earth simply never made the call.
That's all they did made him register as an investment manager? You realize, don't you, that's like sending Ted Bundy to traffic school.
O-okay, h-how about this, Ed? You talk to your bosses about sending me undercover into Madoff Securities, as some sort of special operative for the SEC? That way, we ca No.
W-w-why? No, l-listen to me, Ed.
I'll report directly to you.
That way, we can penetrate head-on this thing and break it open.
I've thought about this.
I've done the work, Ed.
Listen Okay, don't hang up.
cuts interest rates for the first time in four years.
The Fed hopes to stimulate the economy.
Well, the move certainly stimulated Wall Street.
So what was this feeling in the pit of my stomach? Amen.
Heya, Peter.
How you doing? I know things have been rough with Roger's passing.
All you got to do and, uh, here use these.
you should really take 'em up with your brother.
In the meantime My question is about sin.
Is it possible to sin a little, but still be essentially good? Hmm.
So, is it like having a cold? Someone asks how are you feeling, you can say, "I'm a little sick?" Yes, exactly.
The Hebrew word for sin is "het.
" And it comes from archery, and it means "to go astray.
" An arrow that misses its mark is het.
So, if we think of a bull's-eye, a-an arrow can be dead center, or it can be way out on the edge, almost astray, but still a bull's-eye, still grounded in righteousness.
But if it does go astray, do you think it matters if it's by a little or a lot? I'm no marksman, Peter, but it seems to me that if you miss, you miss.
Yes.
Yes.
Some of the Swiss, Bernie, they're asking questions.
And these questions are about One of the Steiner brothers fancies himself a budding economist.
Ah.
He says he's confused why the volume of trading you do doesn't seem to impact the options market.
I see.
And what did you tell him? That if you're good enough for the world's biggest banks to build derivatives on, you should be good enough for him.
It's very courteous of you, Vera.
But you shouldn't have to come to my defense.
Put him in touch with me.
I would be more than happy to discuss these things with him.
And if he's not entirely satisfied, I would be happy to release his family's investments from the fund.
And once you're out of the fund, there's no coming back, is there? That's entirely correct.
There you are.
Hi.
Honey.
God, I'm glad you could come.
This is nice, meeting my mom in her special place in the park.
This is where you go to hide from Dad, huh? Yeah.
So, what's up? What's up? Why does anything have to be up? I miss seeing you.
God, you're so busy these days, huh? That's good.
I'm glad.
Andy, you know, I know that it often seemed that I put your father first.
- Mom, you don't have to - Quiet.
I'm doing the talking now.
It's just that you were always so easy.
Even as a baby, you were so reserved.
You just watched everything.
Yeah.
Mark, God, sometimes I think he never stopped breastfeeding.
Ah.
He was always always wanted my attention.
He sought me out.
So, all all I wanted to say, honey, is that I want you to feel that you can reach out to us.
We want to be there for you.
I want to be there for you.
Is this 'cause I'm sick? - No.
No.
- Mom, it's okay.
- It's not.
- It's fine.
I'm okay with it, actually.
I think it's kind of nice.
Look, here's how I see it.
Illness isn't just a curse.
It's an opportunity.
Well, I don't understand.
Well, you want to know why I always kept to myself so much, right? It was because it was never going to matter what I did.
I was always gonna be in the shadows, regardless.
I was always gonna be Bernie's kid.
Son of the great, wise man.
Then all three of us would be working up there in that marble tube.
It's always been deeper and deeper in the shadows, my whole life.
Honey, people don't see you the way you see yourself.
Maybe not, but here's the thing for the first time ever, it doesn't matter.
The cancer treatment.
The woman I love.
For the first time ever, I have things that are mine, things that don't have anything to do with being a Madoff.
Even if the cancer kills me, it'll be mine.
Just mine.
It has been a harrowing 48 hours in global financial markets.
Foreign investors have been selling stocks at a frenzied pace.
This morning, it looked like that tidal wave was headed for the U.
S.
There's no getting around it, Bernie.
The rumors at Bear Stearns are having a real impact.
Could you imagine if Bear was to fail? What's the bottom line? For my fund? Well, there would be some leakage, but the good news is it's individual investors.
Some of those clients will probably leave, but the charities, endowments, the pension funds, they don't move their money unless the world is gonna end.
You're not answering my question.
What's the bottom line? Under $300 million.
Okay, probably three to five, depending on how things work out.
Ugh.
Where are they taking this money? They're not going anywhere.
They don't trust anything.
They're just going to cash.
But they all ask the same question before they pull out "How does Bernie make a profit when everyone else in the world is taking a bath?" And you tell them what? I tell them, Bernie, what I always tell them.
You're a magician.
That's it? That's not enough.
You've got to reassure them that this system is not falling.
The government will not let that happen.
They said so too big to fail, huh? Huh? I can ride this market.
I know how to do that.
I can make your investors rich.
Okay.
I'll do my best.
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
You've got to you've got to twist each one on a slight upward that's right.
Are you taking anything for your back? I want you to just clean up my desk.
- I can't do it today.
- So You start with the computer.
Yeah, I've been wanting to talk to you about something.
Um It's awkward.
Maybe even a little unprofessional.
What is it? As you know, my my father died recently.
And he left me some money.
How much? $150,000.
I know that's pennies to you, but it's a lot of money to me.
And I don't know what to do with it.
Well, you want to put the $150,000 in my fund.
Yeah, you're right.
It's ridiculous.
I mean, your clients probably make $150,000 in a day.
Well, let me think about it.
I should tell her to put it safely in the bank, but that's not what she wants to hear.
Okay.
I've thought about it.
Bring in a bank check tomorrow.
And I'll take care of you.
You know you're a big softie, right, Bern? Bernie, it was so nice to see you.
Unfortunately, I'm calling with not such good news.
The Steiner brothers are withdrawing their money from the fund.
All of it.
What can you do? People do foolish things.
Give my love to Ruth.
You hear that sound? No.
You just hear the waves.
The happy families playing at the beach.
Me, I hear the growl of a beast who's never full.
I always hear the beast.
And now he's getting restless.
Bernie, the Steiner brothers' $113 million withdrawal, it's not even a problem.
One of Noel's sons-in-law just got back from Abu Dhabi with $250 million.
That puts us over $7 billion in Harlin-Neale alone.
I mean, $113 million, we can cover that in our sleep.
It's like falling off a log.
Want something real to worry about? Worry about what's going on upstairs.
With Peter's spending half the day in temple and Andy going through chemo, that only leaves Mark up there anymore.
Doesn't matter what happens up there.
What the hell does that mean? It means we've been funneling cash to them for years, and all they're good for is just to cover for us.
Do your sons know about that? Or Peter? Huh.
Hey, Bernie? This is for you.
And, uh, what exactly is Oh, my God.
It's the same as mine, only that's the new line.
I had my guy get it special.
So, why do I get this now? Because 30 years ago today, you took a chance on a kid from Howard Beach who didn't know his head from his ass.
Now my kids all go to college debt-free.
I live in the best neighborhood in New Jersey.
My whole family, we worry for nothing.
You earned every penny of it.
You're a good worker.
Hey, uh, Bernie, I was thinking maybe if you'd like, maybe you and Ruth would want to come out on my boat sometime with me and Rosalie? Hey, now, that's a beautiful watch, too.
I cannot see you anymore.
It's not anything about you.
Nice.
In public.
That way, I can't make a scene.
You really are a son of a bitch, aren't you? I'm not gonna let you get to me, Sheryl.
Why are you doing this? I never asked you for anything.
I don't want you to leave Ruth.
I am not gonna leave my husband.
My son Andrew has cancer.
I'm sorry.
I don't want you to worry.
I'll still take care of your money.
Our whole family has been cursed.
I try so hard to make sense of it.
But I fail every time.
It's not just how young Roger was.
It's how faultless, how kind.
He was my heart.
Perhaps it's not for you to make sense of your son's death.
Perhaps it's for you to make peace with the senseless.
The only way it makes any sense is if God is punishing me.
Why would you think that? Is there something you feel God is punishing you for? Hey, Bernie.
I'm sure the rabbi would love to meet you if you feel like going in for No, no thanks.
Come on.
Let's take a walk.
Peter You haven't been to the office much lately.
What's going on? Yeah.
No, I mean Everything's okay.
It doesn't have anything to do with work.
I just don't want to find that I got I got to compete with God.
Compete with God? For what? I hope it's the right one.
My God, it's the MK III.
1965 Drophead coupe.
Only 37 made in the whole world.
Can I get in? I know that you and Roger used to talk about this being the most beautiful car in the world, so I thought I'd get it for you so that you would feel close to him.
Thanks, Bernie.
I Could I Would you mind if I just sat here by myself for a minute? Sure.
Absolutely.
Go ahead, Petey.
Oh, my God.
Roger.
He's been buying me off my whole life, hasn't he? For days, it was the hottest rumor on Wall Street a bank they called too big to fail was going broke.
Today, those rumors became fact.
Bear Stearns, one of the nation's largest investment banks, was forced to take an emergency loan funded by all of us.
The taxpayer bailout prompted investors to dump their granted a rare 28-day loan from the Federal Reserve.
Just yesterday, the company swore it was okay, but things got worse in a hurry.
All that scrambling by the Fed that you mentioned has, for now at least, staved off a full-scale meltdown.
Our economy, obviously, is going through a tough time.
And the challenge is not to do anything foolish in the meantime.
In the long run, I'm confident that our economy will continue to grow because the foundation is solid.
Confident, are you? You're trying to use my trick weather a crisis by inspiring confidence.
Only problem is, you're not much good at it.
Okay.
All right.
We lower the rate of return across the board so people think we're responding to the market.
Okay, got you.
Freaking Bear Stearns.
I mean, how long have they been around, huh? 85 years, and then poof.
Gone in a day.
Hey.
You ever wish you could tell them? Tell who? The investors.
Don't you wish you could just say to them, "Hey, hey, you idiot, you schmuck, you think you're being all safe and taking your money out of the market, but your money's safer here in our savings account because we ain't in the market.
" Bear Stearns is the market.
We're not the market.
Well, actually, I have thought that exact thought.
More than once.
What are you gonna do? People are cowards.
Okay.
I got it.
I'll drop the rate to 5%.
Is that it? Is there anything else? Yeah.
I'm making you CFO.
What, of what we do down here? No.
The whole company.
- Bernie, I'm - No, no, no.
Don't, don't, don't, don't.
You earned it.
Mark is gonna lose his mind.
Mark can be replaced.
You can't.
Oh, good morning, honey.
Hi, Mom.
A little early for that, isn't it? I've been up since your daughter started crying at 4:00 a.
m.
, so it's afternoon for me.
Well, it's good to be here with you.
How'd you turn out to be such a sweetheart? I I am proud.
I am really proud of the man you've become.
I really am.
your dad is, too.
He's got a funny way of showing it.
The entire economy is tanking, and he makes Frank DiPascali CFO.
Oops, Dark Mark's back.
I'm sorry, but it's one thing when he was in charge of the 17th floor.
But this pretty much makes him my boss.
It's like Dad enjoys rubbing it in my face.
Now, that's not true.
Your father would do anything in the world for you and Andy.
You know that.
So we're not self-made like him.
We didn't grow up in Queens with some big-ass chip on our shoulder.
Yeah, we grew up privileged.
How can he hold that against us? He made us that way.
You know, you're blowing this out of proportion.
So what if he made Frank the CFO? What does that mean? It's just nothing it's a title.
I'm the Vice President of the firm, and all I do is hire the decorators.
So just lighten up.
Come on, lighten up.
There's my boy.
Come on, come on.
Okay.
Today, this country witnessed scenes many hoped we would never see again in America anxious customers lined up outside the headquarters of a bank IndyMac Bank in Los Angeles.
A run on that bank caused the Federal government to take it over, declare that none of the bank's customers could touch their money.
Bad news.
Citigroup lost half its value The President, at a news conference, tried today to calm people.
cracked down on investors who have not only profited on the drop The fears are real.
It closed below 11,000.
Bank stocks, including AmericanWest, Wells Fargo, and Wachovia were pummeled again today.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Secretary faced tough questions on the plan to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Well, I appreciate you very much, Bernie, taking the time to come and meet me.
I know you've got a really busy schedule.
My son, Ethan, he got out of Stanford about a year ago.
Super smart kid.
He wasn't the valedictorian, but he was real close to it.
He and a couple of his fraternity buddies have some great ideas about some new technology.
And so I'm pretty frightened about what I read in the Journal.
But I-I told him, if the time came, if he had a good idea, I'd be able to to help him out.
To your son.
All these years, I've been making them all rich.
You've always said that if I ever needed my money out, all I had to do was ask.
They never had to worry about a thing because I did their worrying for them.
Well, this is me asking.
No problem.
My son will have the money? It's the money that he won't have that I can't give you.
But I understand completely.
It's a scary time.
Chair's feels like rocks.
Now I saw it was the other way around.
Don't take offense, Bernie.
It is just, in this market, how are you finding counterparties to trade with? The market they're not even in the market.
They're with me.
If there was a way I could tell them you're making a solid 2% because your money is in my Chase Manhattan bank account.
I had given my investors a steady return, no matter what.
And now I needed one little thing in return.
Just leave your damn money in the fund.
And all they could think of was themselves.
Bernie? I'm not out of my mind.
I just This damn back.
Give me the redemptions folder.
You okay? Can I get you anything? No, no.
Just go away.
$3.
5 billion out the door, just like that.
All I needed was someone who still had a little faith in me.
You're no longer Bernie the Kid.
You're older now than I was when I retired.
Thanks.
You really know how to make a guy feel great, Carl.
32 years ago.
Sometimes I feel like I haven't done a damn thing since then.
Aw, come on.
Your name is on libraries, universities, and research institutes.
All the stuff you've done with your foundations Philanthropy is just giving away your money.
Other people do all the work.
Investing where is the satisfaction in that? I used to make something.
I would see a woman walking down the street in a Kay Windsor dress, and I thought, "My company made that.
We did that.
" We did things that people needed.
Now what do I do? I just move money around.
What's up? Why the impromptu visit? Carl, you know that I have never pushed you to put your money with me, right? Never.
Not once.
That's right.
I have never tried to sell you.
How much you need? Carl's $250 million wasn't gonna last a week.
I had stabbed him in the back for a Band-Aid.
And then at the end of the trading day, the bottom fell out.
The Dow dropped to a 504-point loss.
Financial institutions are in trouble.
158-year-old Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.
It is all a bit dizzying.
This was the day we were afraid to wake up to.
Don't take this the wrong way, Bernie, but now that we've gone global, some of our investors are not the kind of people you say no to.
Sounds like some kind of a threat.
Bernie, no.
Of course not.
All I'm saying is that our investors are just like everyone else the world over.
They haven't lost confidence in you.
They've lost confidence in everything the whole system.
They think the Titanic is going down.
You have to face the music, Bernie.
What is it, exactly, that you think you do? Hm? Do you think you're wizards? You're not wizards.
I'm a wizard.
I'm a rainmaker.
I make it rain.
You guys are just shepherds.
You're marketers.
Two sorority girls from New Jersey can do your job just as well as you do.
You don't have the balls to tell your investors to stick with it, and I can't grow 'em for you.
1962, 1987, 1989, 2000, 2001 every crash, I made money for my investors.
But bring me your redemptions.
Bring me all your redemptions, and I will honor them all.
But don't get too comfortable because when the smoke clears and you want a place at this table, you don't get it.
Bernie No, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm through.
You just you talk to Frank.
He'll write you a check.
So, Annette and Jodi started talking a little too loud for my taste.
They're worried about this and that, and people hear more than they need to know.
Need to know? What does that mean? Well, people talk like that, people get scared.
Okay, we don't need that.
And you told them what, exactly? I told them that Bernie's the captain.
He charts the course.
You're gonna turn this around.
I know you are.
As always, right? Yeah.
So, where to now, Mr.
DiPascali? Hey.
Hey, nice watch.
Oh, yeah, Mr.
Madoff gave it to me.
So, where to now? I don't care.
Just drive.
There's no particular reason for this.
No announcement or anything, no big news.
It's just that I, um I miss I miss you.
You see us every day.
But not as a family, and the market has been so crazy that, um I I just want to hear good news from people I love, all right? That's all.
To family.
To family.
To family.
All right.
Ah.
Everyone here has good news.
Ruth, you start.
Mm, you know me, Bernie.
Everything's always the same.
Good.
Audrey's walking.
Well, she's falling.
- She's trying.
- She's trying.
You've got to fall before you walk.
Congratulations.
I'm in remission.
You're kidding.
You what, you've been keeping this a secret? I don't know.
I just wanted to find the right time, I guess.
Andrew, this kind of news, it's always the right time.
- Holy moly.
- Great! - L'chaim! - L'chaim! My God, what a thing to celebrate.
Oh! Oh.
Remember the morning of 9/11? What made you think of that? Remember how panicked you were that we couldn't find the boys? We couldn't connect? Yeah.
I have a confession.
That was the morning I realized that as long as you were okay I could handle anything.
Hm.
I love you.
You need me.
There's a difference.
No.
There isn't.
I wish that you'd let me help you more.
I you act like I don't know or care anything about the world your world.
I follow the news.
I-I know how much pressure you're under.
Are you talking about the financial world is going into flames? I had lunch with Laura.
She told me that Ira's cashing in his stocks left and right, converting to cash.
He's thinking about moving to some island.
Ira Stemple is a chump.
He's always been a chump.
He's made five fortunes, and he's lost all of them because he panics.
Maybe.
She asked me how you can stay so calm.
I told her it's because you know the future.
You always have.
That's how your business does well, even in bad times.
And that's why you and I are gonna be okay.
Tell me again.
What? That you love me.
I love you.
I love you.
I hadn't made a sales call in 40 years.
40 years, I'd made them come to me.
Now was the worst time in history to drum up new business.
Ah, screw it.
Martin? Bernie Madoff.
Yeah, it's been a long, long time.
Listen, I'm starting a new fund.
It's a specialized thing.
It's only for big fish like you.
No, no, no.
Warren, with the relationships that I've developed over the years, the market doesn't stay frozen for me.
Demitri, of course it's exclusive.
Would I be calling you unless it was exclusive? I don't really give a crap what the Mandarin word for "counterparties" is.
You just tell them I'm Bernie Madoff.
I'll worry about that.
Transfer some funds from business-private to joint-personal.
About $15, $16 million.
And and and 40 years, keeping my head above water.
And now I'm finally drowned.
Dad? What are you doing down there? I'm fine.
It's just my back.
Well, you you don't look fine.
I guess I'll be the judge of that.
I'm worried about you, okay? You're acting weird.
I'm fine.
If your back is that bad I'm fine! And if you don't have anything important to say to me, would you consider doing some actual work instead of just whimpering about me? Bernie, why you got to talk to him like that? Oh, shush.
The incredible volatility we saw today in the market is a sign of how unnerved Those unnerved investors are calling their brokers, calling their bankers, calling their rich uncles, wanting to know how to protect themselves, their families, and their futures.
Call it "Nightmare on Wall Street.
" The meltdown in the financial The big three American automakers were back on Capitol Hill today, saying their companies, pillars of the American economy for decades, are on the brink of disappearing.
Nearly 3 million Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed this year, pushing the total number of those out of work Fraud, fraud, fraud, fraud! or looking for work to more - than 10 million.
- Fraud, fraud, fraud, fraud! You're gonna turn this around, Bernie.
Just like you always do.
Stocks in the financial sector down 17%, retail down 10%.
Wall Street's top executives have been holding emergency meetings with government officials - made in China.
- I think I got him.
It's like the blind leading the blind.
battered investment bank.
as the huge bank dramatically collapsed.
Stocks reeling again.
Dow Industrials were off almost 700 points.
That's the fourth-largest point drop in a day.
Eleanor! The holiday weekend seems to have soured things.
Keep it going.
I am.
Come on, get the kink out in here, all right? The glow of the holiday weekend faded quickly.
Holiday sales are not likely to turn things around.
Eleanor! Eleanor! What? What is it? Where is my address book, please? Oh, Bernie, you gave it to me yesterday to update.
- It's on my desk.
- Get it! You want me to turn a light on in here or something? - Just get it! - Okay.
It's like working in the Bat Cave or something.
Here you go.
Boys I want to give early Christmas bonuses this year.
These are the names of the people I want to give something early.
Can I call you back? Let me call you back.
W-Why do you want to do that? What do you mean, why? We had a good year.
Why would you want to give early bonuses in this market? Uh yeah.
Right, right, right.
Forget it.
Yeah, forget it.
Do you want this back? No, no.
Hey, yeah, go ahead.
Ah, Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Dad, we're worried about you.
We're here to help.
You can tell us if there's something wrong.
Well, I'll file that away, okay? But there's nothing wrong.
- Should I call 911? - I'm fine.
I think we should have a doctor come in and check you out just in case.
Get out of here.
I can't do this here.
- You can't do what? - I have to go home.
I'm gonna call the car.
Dad? Dad, what's going on? Could we have the car outside? I can't I want to go home to Ruth.
Tell me what's going on.
I want to go home! - Dad, are you okay? - Get me up.
I have to go see Ruth.
Dad, what's going on? Just get me up.
Okay.
Come on.
I need a hand.
One, two, three.
All right, thanks.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you.
What What is it? Okay.
- Bernie.
- Okay.
I have something to tell you.
It's over.
I'm finished.
What does that mean? I There's nothing more.
Are Are you talking about the business? Because the business has billions on the books, Dad.
That's the books you read.
They're not the real books.
I Ah! The trading company that you boys run has been a loss for a long time.
And I've been covering it with funds from the investment services.
And the investment services is, uh a lie.
What are you talking about? What do you mean, a lie? It's a Ponzi scheme.
What does that mean, a Pon a Ponzi scheme? Oh, my God.
It means, Ruthie, that I have been doing things with other people's money that I shouldn't, and now it's all gone.
Everything? There's a few hundred million that I want to distribute very carefully to people.
But and I need a week to do that.
I need a week to 10 days.
And then I'm gonna turn myself in.
And, Ruthie, they're gonna send me to jail.
How much How much did you lose? $50 billion.
Oh! Mark, Mark! Mark, wait, stop.
Breathe.
It's okay.
We need to see what we can do to help.
We have to think this through.
It might not even be real, what he's even saying.
Why would he make it up, Andy? He's been acting incredibly strange at work.
He's been lying on the floor.
He can't answer a simple question.
It might even be a brain tumor for all we know.
Of course he's been acting strange.
He's taken everybody for a $50 billion ride and crashed into a wall.
Don't you see what's been going on, Andy? All the secrecy, promoting DiPascali? Keeping us out of the investment business? Where are you going? To find a lawyer.
A lawyer? What, are you gonna walk around on the street and ask if they can - represent you? - Come on, man.
Steph's uncle's got a law firm five blocks from here.
I'll call him and have them meet us there.
We're exposed, Andy.
He's left us no choice.
Let's go! So, a couple of hundred million? What happens to that? I don't think we should go into the details right now.
You said we had nothing left.
What does What does "nothing left" mean? Does it mean that we that we downsize to a smaller apartment or sleep out on the street? Downsizing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's downsizing, all right.
I don't I don't understand this.
You're not a criminal.
Yes, Ruthie, I am a criminal.
A lot of you might not believe what you're seeing, but it's the truth.
The night I confessed to Ruth and the boys was the same night as the company Christmas party, held as always at Rosa Mexicana, guacamole heaven.
Why? Why did I do that? I'd known these people for years, and all that time, they trusted me as the guy who knew what was best for everybody.
Tonight was the last time I'd ever see them look at me like that again.
This is $50 billion, you said, not million, but billion, with a "B"? Yes, sir.
I've met your father, you know.
More than once.
My colleague has his retirement fund with him.
Not anymore.
Okay.
Um let me ask you, does your mother know that you're here? No.
Ruth! Margarita? No, thanks.
Yeah.
Thanks.
I haven't seen Andrew or Mark.
They're coming, right? Yeah, they're just they're just running a little behind.
What is this? I have no idea.
So you said that your father wants to wait a week before turning himself in to pay out the money that's left, - is that right? - Mm-hmm.
It's not his to spend.
It's stolen.
If he plans to disperse any of it to anyone at all anyone this is a crime that's currently in progress.
Does that mean that we're guilty? It's my strong advice that we go to the authorities immediately.
The SEC, the FBI, the U.
S.
attorney if your father gives any of that money away, you are complicit.
Hey, Bern.
What is it that's so important you had to take me away from my favorite food? Peter, listen, uh, I have committed some irregularities with the company.
Bernie, I've always known that certain things weren't completely on the level No, no, no, no, no, no.
You don't know that.
That's what you don't know.
You don't know that anything was off the level.
You don't know that.
Do you understand me? I need a week to take care of certain people, and then I have to turn myself in.
And I'm gonna probably end up going to jail.
Okay? Okay.
All right.
Don't go to jail.
Oh, no, Peter, Peter, stop.
Please, please.
Don't.
All right.
I love you, Bernie.
I love you, too.
- Look - Go on, go on.
These affidavits testify to the key points of what you've told us here tonight.
All you have to do is sign.
But don't do it lightly.
Well, I just want to remind you that the reason my clients came forward tonight is because they are completely and totally innocent of any involvement in these crimes.
Understood.
But please remember, once you sign, there's no going back.
These are sworn statements that can be used against your father in a court of law.
- Sign that.
- This is for you, Andy.
Excuse me.
Sign where your name is.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Mr.
Madoff? Yeah.
We're from the FBI.
Do you know why we're here? I didn't hear the house phone.
What's going What's going on? Somebody turned me in.
Who? Who do you think? I floated my sons for 40 years.
And this is how they repay me by lawyering up and ruining my exit plan.
Just 10 days to put things in order.
All they had to give me was five minutes.
Hey, do me a favor next time, have them fill the tequila bottles - with cranberry and tonic.
- Frank.
Frank.
My head is like a Huh? Why is the FBI here? On the computer, ma'am.
Hey, Bern, it's like 10:45.
Look, I'm sure that Peter has told you the FBI is here, but I keep getting calls DiPascali, Crupi, Bongiorno.
Where can we find their offices? Oh, they're not up here.
What do you mean, "up here"? They're on 17.
Get all those papers off the wall.
Let's go.
Come on, pick these papers up.
Make sure they make it into the shredder.
Guys, guys, don't jam 'em in.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Ma'am, make sure you get those.
Lots of journals.
double-digit returns, even in the worst of markets.
Federal authorities revealed this was no market magic.
It was a grand Ponzi scheme.
Yeah? What? Bernie? You got to be kidding me.
Monsieur, your brother's on the telephone.
What? Really, what is it? Mr.
Madoff has been arrested.
Well, we're learning more this morning about what authorities are calling the largest financial scam ever.
A powerful New York investment broker accused of bilking investors out of $50 billion.
For years, he made good on amazing investor.
He made big money year after year, double-digit returns.
It sounded too good to be true, and it was.
Financier Bernard Madoff now stands accused of running a $50 billion fraud.
He faces 20 years in prison and millions in fines.
I'm watching him on television right now.
And ABC News has learned, George, that the two employees that turned Madoff in were, in fact, his sons.
Well, we're learning more this morning about what authorities are calling the largest financial scam ever, a powerful New York investment broker Aah! That's right.
Just me.
Just you? A $50 billion fraud, and nobody else was involved? That's correct.
Nobody? Am I not being clear, Ethan? - Not Frank DiPascali? - No.
- Not Annette Bongiorno? - No.
- Not your brother? - No.
Not your sons? Your wife? No.
If he wants to make bail, he's gonna have to do a hell of a lot better than this.
He's cooperating.
What do you want him to do? - Draw you a treasure map? - Yes! That's exactly what I want him to do.
Bernie confessed, of his own free will, even before calling me, which I'm sure you can guess I'm thrilled about.
Let's cut the crap.
You've got the centerpiece of your case well in hand.
Sorry, Ethan.
A personal recognizance bond isn't gonna cut it.
You want your client to go home? I need a $10 million bond posted.
He's gonna have to be placed under house arrest.
And I'm gonna need that bond signed by four people willing to stand for him assuming there are any left.
It has to be signed by four people? You, me, and the boys.
And then we can bring them home.
Of course, Ruthie.
Just fax it over.
I'll sign it and get it right back to you.
Oh, thank you, Peter.
That's a relief.
Yeah, now the boys.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, of course.
I'll keep you posted.
Listen to me right now, Mom.
Mom, listen to me.
Do Do you understand me? No! No, Andy and I are never gonna help our father.
Mark, you've got to calm down.
Do you understand me? We are not signing the bond! Do you want to save yourself, Mom? You let him rot in jail where he belongs! Too much.
Mark.
Mark, Mark! - Tell her to leave.
- Stop, I will.
Tell her to leave.
I need you to calm down.
I don't want her here.
Just sit down over there.
- I do not want her here.
- Okay, fine.
Tell her to go.
Mark, you've got to calm down, okay? - Mom.
- Open the door.
- Mom! - You're signing this bond! - You're signing it right now.
- Tell her to leave, Andy.
I'm gonna make it very simple.
He's given you everything! Okay, it's your choice.
- Us or him! - You son of a All your father has done for you.
Don't be so unreasonable.
Let me in.
Many of Madoff's victims, hungry for justice.
And he looked at me, and I saw a hollow face.
Hollow.
There was nothing in it.
No emotion whatsoever.
- You met his eyes? - Yes.
And there was nothing there.
I met Richard and Cynthia Freidman.
We were investors with Madoff.
- We lost everything.
- Everything.
Everything, yes.
All our life's savings.
They were skeptical that justice would truly be done.
There's something about being in the presence of somebody that evil.
So, when was it exactly that I became the poster boy for all of Wall Street's crimes? Maybe it was when all the celebrities who took a hit were revealed.
No, no.
Who doesn't love to see celebrities suffer? Maybe it was the charities.
And I admit that didn't exactly show me in the best light.
No, no, no.
Even after what that idiot Frenchman pulled, trying to show the world what an honorable aristocrat he was That didn't do it.
No.
The moment that the world decided to make me the 21st-century icon of evil and greed, the monster of Wall Street, when I came home for house arrest.
Bernie, are you gonna give any of the money Bernie, are you gonna plead guilty? There, right there.
That smirk that smirk seen around the world and replayed for days on every network on the planet.
Yeah, I know.
I know what you think you saw in that smirk a man without remorse, a rich man confident that his money would put him above the law.
You think you saw a man scorning the world.
Well, you couldn't have been more wrong.
But I'm really not some evil, horrible, ethically deprived scoundrel.
I'm basically an ordinary businessman who simply got in over his head.
I'm gonna go in alone.
No way.
I'm not letting you go out there unprotected.
They're not gonna come at me if I'm not with you, okay? I love you.
That's him! Go, go, go, go, go, go! Go, go, go! Excuse me, ma'am, you can't be here.
Ma'am, this is a crime scene.
You have to leave.
No disrespect, agent, but I'm sick of waiting around for you to figure out that I'm the person you need to be talking to.
Here.
His personal address book.
All 130 of his "must have with him at all times" contacts.
Everyone he stole from is in that book.
And just who, exactly, are you? I was his secretary.
Many of the largest investment firms on Wall Street didn't do business with Mr.
Madoff.
Why didn't they go to the SEC? Because the SEC wouldn't have done anything.
Why would you watch that? People who live in glass houses don't throw stones.
Penance, maybe.
What? Voluntary self-punishment.
The SEC comes in after the fact, toe-tags the victims, counts the bodies Used to be a popular concept in the very, very old days.
Anyway, I won't close my eyes to what I've done.
Hey.
Uncle Bernie's the one that put all of us in jeopardy and ruined everyone we know.
You did nothing wrong.
Dad, it's not your fault.
You didn't know what he was doing.
I was Chief Compliance Officer.
It was my job to stop it.
They're not gonna just let me walk away from this.
Hey, this is Mark.
Leave a message.
Why won't you talk to me, huh? Listen, I'm the one that should be angry with you and your brother.
How could you betray your father like this, after all that he has done for you? Why Why this pointless demand that I choose between you, why? Why should I have to choose between my husband and my son? What What What good would it do if I left him? What difference would it make? You know all you're doing, Mark, is just ripping this fa family apart! In Denver, President Obama signed the massive $787 billion economic stimulus bill, saying, "It would keep the American Dream alive in our time.
" At the same time on Wall Street, the Dow dropped nearly 300 points after worries about clouds on the horizon.
President Barack Obama sees today's signings as a historic moment that will end the run of economic calamities.
None greater than the ultimate Wall Street fraud, Bernie Madoff.
- I'm the fraud, eh? - turn the economy around.
But today does mark the beginning of the end.
Ah, the whole financial system's rotten from the top down.
I'm just a dirty little fish swimming around in a great, big, dirty pond.
You know the biggest banks in the world sell their customers assets they know are toxic, and and and the ratings board gives them a rubber stamp of approval.
And the politicians then tell the public that Wall Street is gonna police itself.
Ha! And then we all get bailed out, and they got to pay billions and billions and billions of dollars.
And they call me a fraud?! And I ran the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, okay, within the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
Ah.
I'm the fall guy.
You have no idea how good it is to see your face.
It's just been killing me not to not to see you or Mark for the past two two months.
Well, Mark would kill me if he knew I was here.
How is he? How are any of us? Not good.
Well, you're holding up all right, it seems, all things considered.
Well, it's easier for me to adjust than you and Mark.
I didn't spend my whole life worrying about being liked.
So, what is it? What did you want to ask? I want to see Mark's baby.
I want to come to the hospital when the baby comes.
No.
Mom, I know it's hard.
Mark has his feelings, and they're never gonna change unless you completely cut off Dad.
Why Why is it so hard for you both to understand why I can't do that? Maybe you never loved anybody like your father and I love each other, or else you would understand why what you're asking me is impossi He lied to us every day, Mom, you included.
And now we have to pay for his lies.
Cut him off.
You have a future.
The whole family has a future.
Just not him.
Nobody will ever love me like that again.
Nobody will ever love me like that again.
Maybe your grandson will.
What? It's a boy.
We just found out.
You know how much little boys love their grandmas.
Ye I've got to go.
You can't help but wonder whether Bernard Madoff is sleeping yet.
Tonight, the disgraced financier will rest his head on a bare-boned bunk in a New York City jail cell for the first time not in the master bedroom of his multimillion-dollar penthouse.
So they yanked my bail the minute I made my guilty plea, and they threw me in the clink to wait to be sentenced.
Here's your lunch, douchebag.
Choke on it.
So what's it like outside? Good.
It's fabulous, actually.
I lost weight.
You know, 'cause I can't go out.
Or get groceries to the apartment.
They won't do that.
The salon won't book my appointment for me, and no restaurants want me.
I'm the only homeless person in the whole world who lives in a penthouse, and that's only temporary.
Why? Why what? Seriously.
Don't tell me you just got in over your head.
I want to know why, Bernie, why? Because people only want to get richer and richer and richer and they don't want the risk and they don't want the worry.
Even the bank I put the money in, I put billions of dollars in that one account.
You think it occurred to them to pick up a phone and say, "Hey, we got an account here, it's got billions of dollars in it for 35 years.
Maybe you ought to take a look at it.
" No.
Because I was the magician.
And nobody wants the magic trick explained.
And that's what you get for believing in magic.
Okay, so, another lawsuit.
Read all the way to the bottom.
Our kids? They want to sue our kids? They're suing my 3-year-old daughter.
That's insane.
It's gonna get thrown out.
Look, Mark, this is totally screwed, but we've got to just We've got to what? We've got to play ball? We've got to let them rub our noses in the dirt? Pretend that we like it because we know we deserve it? Does that make it okay for them to threaten our kids, who had absolutely no involvement with what their scumbag grandfather did? If they get anywhere near my children, I swear to God No one's gonna hurt your kids.
It's It's just a lawsuit.
We're dealing with hundreds of them.
Every judge in every lawsuit against us can say that we're innocent, and it wouldn't matter.
The world's never gonna believe us.
This day will pass.
I can see it.
But I need you to picture it.
Why bother? Why bother? Your wife, your kids.
Everything's gone.
What are you talking about? They've taken everything even our name.
Mark, please.
We're changing our name.
Steph and I figured it was it was for the best, especially for the kids.
We will now be known as Stephanie and Mark Mack.
Why would you do that? Because I can't be a Madoff anymore.
Hello, Ed.
So, you won.
You're the hero.
Well, I don't feel like a hero.
I feel horrible for every single person involved with this thing.
Well, hopefully that's gonna change, thanks in part to you.
Nothing's gonna change, Ed.
The SEC's gonna go right on doing what it's doing and nothing short of a revolution in the street is gonna change anything.
I'm glad you finally got what you wanted, Harry.
It's made you so much happier.
Can you imagine? They offered me a deal.
So I told them, I ain't rolling over.
Ain't no way.
There's guys out there doing worse things than we ever did.
We can fight through this, Bernie.
I got faith.
Besides, we never had that fishing day on my boat.
Shut up! There's no play here, Frank.
Get out.
Save yourself.
And, Frank, I never liked fishing.
It was just an act I put on for my kids.
From approximately April of 1986 until December, 2008, I directly participated in Mr.
Madoff's scheme to defraud his investment clients of billions of dollars.
Also directly involved were my colleagues Annette Bongiorno and Jodi Crupi.
In addition, the Director of Operations and several others, all of whom worked with me on the firm's 17th floor had roles in the fraud.
And you never made one trade? The day I make a trade, you'll be the first to know.
I had the use of a corporate credit card, which I used to charge personal expenses, including plane tickets for my son and his fraternity brothers Bernard Madoff awaits judgment this morning in U.
S.
District Court for running the largest and longest-running financial scam in history.
Your honor, I cannot offer you an excuse for my behavior.
How do you excuse betraying thousands of investors who entrusted me with their life savings? The financial devastation can easily be defined, but the emotional, spiritual, and psychological devastation is indescribable.
I sat in limbo for weeks, for months.
First, trying to figure out how we were gonna help over 1,100 people.
Another year or two with my savings, and then I'm just a pauper.
Wherever it goes from there, I don't know.
People have accused me of being silent and not being sympathetic.
That is not true.
When my company was sold, I just cashed it all in, and I gave it all to Bernie.
And I always make a joke.
I said, "That probably took him on a vacation.
" We have, through the generosity of friends, been able to stay My mom has already retired.
This was going to cause a 70% drop in income for the rest of her life.
I would love to meet him, tell him what I think of him, and spit in his face.
I apologize to my victims.
I will turn and face you.
The things that matter, I have.
He just needs to be put away.
Is that justice? People's lives are ruined.
virtually ensures he will spend the rest of his life in jail.
Ruth Madoff was not in the courtroom today to say goodbye to her husband, nor were his sons.
and even his own lawyer called him a deeply flawed individual.
Joanie? It's Ruthie.
You're the only person that I I could call.
'Cause all my friends and my sons, they're just all Look, you're still my big sister, though, right? Joanie, I know that you lost everything because of him, but look, I-I Could I Would you I-I just don't have anyplace else to go.
And Okay, thank you, okay.
My first day inside was Well, let's just say the stress levels were incredibly high.
Welcome home, Madoff! But then, suddenly, I was deemed welcome to my new home.
Hey, it's the $50 billion man! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! In here, I was the guy who stole $50 billion, the greatest thief in history.
Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Well, that's some kind of distinction, isn't it? What? What is that? What is that? Really? You're gonna pretend you don't know her? Of course I know her.
That's the Hadassah lady.
50 years of marriage, everything you put me through, at least show me the respect of not treating me like an idiot.
Ruth, I-I really, I don't have any idea what you're talking about.
So, you deny it.
Of course I'm denying it! All the things she should hate me for the destruction of our family This is crap! all the lives I've ruined It's someone looking for attention.
I don't believe you.
Ruth.
I should leave you.
I should let you rot in here, you liar.
and the one thing that gets her is this.
You're right.
I was with her.
I lied.
But she was she wasn't you.
I was always thinking about you when I was with her.
I don't know you.
I never knew you.
If you'd have told me that morning when the Feds first showed upi at my door that I'd be spending the rest of my days locked up with a bunch of murderers, thieves, and low-lifes, I would have sworn my last happy day was behind me.
But here's the thing.
I used to wake up sick to my stomach from carrying that secret around with me.
Down, down, down, down.
And now, I'm all out of secrets.
For the most part, I feel a hell of a lot better.
Looks like you finally found a full-time job.
Yeah, it's good, man.
It's been great.
It's been great, just the two of us.
Yeah, with Steph taking Audrey to Disney World, I just get some private time with him.
We can all come back together recharged.
Good.
I wanted to tell you that I've been thinking a lot recently about something you said to me once.
Mm-hmm? That the world is never gonna believe that we weren't involved.
And it just sort of hit me.
So what? Who cares what the world thinks? Everyone that matters knows the truth.
The rest is just noise.
Isn't it? Mark, I've been waiting for you to say that for two years.
Two years, yeah.
Well, life doesn't have to end, right? No.
Cheers.
Cheers.
It was Mark Madoff's life in privilege and luxury that also ended two years ago today when his father was arrested in the massive Ponzi scheme.
And this morning, Bernie Madoff's son apparently timed his suicide to the very minute and hour of that anniversary.
It may well have been a message to his father.
She never visited again.
Never called, never wrote.
My family, they are the only victims that mattered to me.
Everything I did was for them to protect them, to provide for them, to give them everything.
I'm never gonna get over what I did to my family.
But as for the rest of you, you who so badly want to see me suffer for the rest of my days, in torment, sorry to disappoint.
You remember that smirk? You know? The one that made the whole world hate me? You want to know what I was thinking? It wasn't that I was above the law.
Or that I was gonna beat the rap.
Or that I was better than the rest of you.
It was that at that moment, I realized that I had actually accomplished exactly what I set out to do all those years ago in Laurelton, huh? Nobody would ever, ever, anywhere, until the end of time, pity Bernie Madoff.