Bernie Madoff went to prison to avert a mob attack: a new Netflix documentary series

The day in December 2008 when FBI investigators handcuffed Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff will be remembered for centuries, and not just by the victims.

The figures were incredible. More than 40,000 investors, including the New York Mets, Larry King, Kevin Bacon, hospitals, colleges, and pension funds, lost a staggering $19 billion over more than two decades.

Now, a new Netflix documentary series completes the narrative. According to Joe Berlinger, the director of the four-part documentary “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street,” which premieres on Wednesday, Madoff also managed “a large portion” of money for international organized crime.

Berlinger stated that the 82-year-old native of New York, who died in prison in 2021, was so willing to accept the rap and the subsequent 150-year prison sentence. Madoff had no remorse; his guilty plea was merely a final act of selfishness. He was attempting to remain alive.

The new Netflix documentary series illuminates Bernie Madoff’s pyramid scam.

People believe that one of the reasons he was so quick to admit his guilt, say it was all his fault, and go to jail was not courage, Berlinger told The Post. “Rather than attempting to confuse, find a legal loophole, or delay [a verdict], I believe part of this was self-defense to escape a mob hit.”

During recently discovered video depositions, Madoff — who was rumored for years to have ties to Russian crime syndicates and who famously befriended Colombo family boss Carmine John Persico, Jr. while in prison — states that there were potential deals on the table from the federal government during his trial.

During one deposition, Madoff stated, “The prosecutor wanted me to plea bargain with them to strike some type of deal by disclosing information about who else was involved in this fraud.” “It was believed that I couldn’t achieve this by myself, that other people had to be involved.”

In addition to possible ties to the Mafia, the new series examines Madoff’s right-hand man, Frank DiPascali. Berlinger stated that the New Yorker was a “reliable lieutenant for all of his nefarious actions.”

DiPascali, who joined Madoff’s staff in 1975 and died in 2015 at age 58 while awaiting punishment on several financial offenses, developed fake returns and investments that, even for the savviest (or luckiest) traders, generated inconceivable gains.

During depositions acquired by documentary producers, Madoff discusses prospective agreements on the table.

In a deposition, DiPascali says, “There was one basic fact that Bernie Madoff knew, that I knew, and that others knew, but we never alerted the clients nor regulators like the SEC.” “There were no actual purchases or sales of securities in their accounts. It was all a hoax and a fabrication.”

Madoff, once regarded as a Wall Street titan, advised the Securities and Exchange Commission following the 1987 market meltdown and was key in the development of NASDAQ, which he headed in the 1990s.

The respectable Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC occupied the 19th level of Midtown Manhattan’s Lipstick skyscraper at 880 Third Avenue, two stories above where Madoff’s historic crime was being organized by an odd cast.

According to Joe Berlinger, the filmmaker of the four-part documentary “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street,” pleading guilty and entering prison was in part “an effort of self preservation.”

“The majority of the people on the 17th floor had just graduated from high school, or they would not have had the potential to make this type of money,” said Berlinger, a contender for an Academy Award who also produced “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.” The documentarian stated that the cramped office was a labyrinth of dot matrix printers, filing cabinets, and phony financial records.

In the end, Madoff’s demise was precipitated by the 2008 housing market collapse, which destroyed the stock market and led investors to withdraw their money from the fund.

“If it weren’t for this once-in-a-century occurrence, the mortgage implosion, the financial crisis would not have occurred,” Berlinger added. Had that not occurred? I believe this would have lasted decades.”

»Bernie Madoff went to prison to avert a mob attack: a new Netflix documentary series«

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