Bernie Madoff
Former American financier and chairman of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities
- Entries
- 9
- On the record
- 5
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Oct 23, 2026
The record
Bernard Madoff founded his securities firm at 22 and became nonexecutive chairman of Nasdaq in 1990, CNBC reported. He was arrested on December 11, 2008, and the SEC sued him and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities the same month, alleging a $50 billion fraud; according to the SEC, he had told two senior employees the advisory business was basically a giant Ponzi scheme. Four days after the arrest, the federal court in Manhattan appointed Irving H. Picard as trustee to liquidate the firm.
Madoff pleaded guilty on March 12, 2009, to an 11-count criminal information covering securities fraud, money laundering, perjury and other charges. On June 29, 2009, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin sentenced him to 150 years in prison and ordered him to forfeit $170,799,000,000. The SEC's inspector general later found the agency had received six substantive complaints about him from 1992 on and had run three examinations and two investigations without a thorough one.
Judge Chin denied his request for compassionate release in June 2020, writing that he lacked genuine remorse and that release was not warranted. Madoff died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, on April 14, 2021, at 82, and the Bureau of Prisons confirmed the death. As of October 2026 the trustee reported about $15.5 billion recovered and about $14.8 billion distributed to customers.
Roles and honours on the record
Every entry, newest first
- Admitted
Pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts and was ordered to jail pending sentencing, the AP reported. Biggest founder frauds ranked: Madoff tops, $170B forfeiture
Stories in this file
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The record, entry by entry
- 1990 Reported Madoff became nonexecutive chairman of Nasdaq, CNBC reported. CNBC report
- 2008-12-15 Official Four days after Madoff's arrest on December 11, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York appointed Irving H. Picard as SIPA trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. BLMIS SIPA Trustee, about the liquidation
- 2008-12-19 Filed The SEC's litigation release on its case against Madoff and his firm alleged a $50 billion fraud, saying he had told two senior employees the advisory business was basically a giant Ponzi scheme and the firm had been insolvent for years. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Litigation Release No. 20834
- 2009-03-12 Admitted Madoff pleaded guilty to an 11-count criminal information charging securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, mail and wire fraud, three money laundering counts, false statements, perjury, false SEC filings and theft from an employee benefit plan, and was remanded into custody. FBI New York Field Office, press release
- 2009-06-29 Ruled U.S. District Judge Denny Chin sentenced Madoff to 150 years in prison and ordered him to forfeit $170,799,000,000, the total proceeds of and property involved in certain of his crimes. FBI New York Field Office, press release
- 2020-06-04 Ruled Judge Chin denied Madoff's request for compassionate release, calling his crimes one of the most egregious financial crimes of all time and concluding he lacked genuine remorse. CNBC report
- 2021-04-14 Reported Madoff died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, at 82; the Bureau of Prisons confirmed the death. CNBC report
- 2026-10-23 Official The SIPA trustee reported recovering approximately $15.509 billion and distributing approximately $14.799 billion from the customer fund across 17 pro rata interim distributions. BLMIS SIPA Trustee, recoveries and distributions
Documents
- SEC Litigation Release No. 20834, SEC v. Bernard L. Madoff and BMIS (Dec. 19, 2008)
- FBI press release on the 11-count guilty plea (Mar. 12, 2009)
- FBI press release on the 150-year sentence (June 29, 2009)
- SEC Office of Inspector General, Report OIG-509, executive summary
- BLMIS SIPA Trustee, recoveries and distributions