Bernard Madoff, investment adviser and notorious con-man, who led major securities’ swindle and defrauded investors of over $19bn in US’ biggest investment fraud, has died in prison at the age of 82.
He died of natural causes at the Federal Medical Centre in Butner, North Carolina. His lawyer and the Bureau of Prisons confirmed the report.
Madoff has been in prison since July 2009 serving 150 years jail term at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina.
A plea by his lawyer asking for compassionate release from prison due to prolonged battle with end stage renal disease was rejected last year.
Madoff enjoyed a reputation as a financial guru and attracted investment clients but his investment business was exposed in 2008 as a Ponzi scheme defrauding people of their wealth.
In March 2009, he pleaded guilty to the 11 federal charges for crimes laid against him, admitting to masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
