Convicted Fraudster Bernie Madoff Avoided Mob Hit By Going To Jail, Netflix Docuseries Reveals
Jan. 3 2023, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
A new Netflix documentary about Bernie Madoff, who is known for being the behind the largest Ponzi operation in history, claimed that the financier went to jail to avoid a mob hit, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Madoff was arrested in December 2008 after the financier was accused of stealing $19 billion from over 40,000 investors, that included the likes of the New York Mets, Larry King, Kevin Bacon, colleges, hospitals, and pension funds — in a massive scheme that spanned more than 20 years.
Now, the Netflix series, Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street, claimed that an international crime organization was also a victim of Madoff and allegedly intended to kill him.
The docuseries director, Joe Berlinger, brought Madoff's crimes to life once more through a four-part series. Berlinger alleged that Madoff oversaw "a significant chunk" of money for an international crime organization prior to his arrest — making being behind bars a better option than a waiting duck.
He also alleged that Madoff was aware of the threat to his life from his dealing with the mob and that even until the end, Madoff had little remorse for his illegal dealings.
Berlinger claimed the ex-Wall Street financier was more than willing to accept the 150-year sentence he was given and that his final selfish act served more as an opportunity for protection than acceptance of wrongdoing.
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"People feel like one of the reasons he was so willing to immediately acknowledge his guilt, say it was all him, and go to jail wasn’t an act of courage," Berlinger said of Madoff in an interview with The Post. "Instead of trying to obfuscate or find a legal way out or to delay [a verdict], I do think part of that was self-protection to avoid a mob hit."
A recently discovered video taken from one of Madoff's many depositions revealed that the disgraced financier had been working with the federal government due to his intel on organized crime — and that a potential deal was being considered around the same time as his trial.
"The prosecutor wanted me to plea-bargain with them to make some sort of a deal by providing information as to who else was involved with this fraud," Madoff states in the clip. "The belief was that I couldn’t be doing this all by myself, that there had to be other people involved."
The docuseries focuses on another character, Frank DiPascali, who Berlinger referred to as Madoff's "trusted lieutenant for all his evil misdeeds." DiPascali began work with Madoff in 1975 but died in 2015 at age 58 while he awaited his own sentencing for his connection to Madoff's crimes. DiPascali's depositions were featured in the series.
"There was one simple fact that Bernie Madoff knew, that I knew, and that other people knew, but we never told the clients nor did we tell the regulators like the SEC," DiPascali said in a deposition clip. "No purchases or sales of securities were actually taking place in their accounts. It was all fake, it was all fictitious."
Madoff died in prison in 2021 at the age of 82.
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