[[Image:Madoff.jpg|right]]
'''Bernard L. Madoff''' (born April 29, 1938) is a registered [[Democrat]], former chairman of the [[Nasdaq]] stock exchange, founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, and the central figure of the [[Ponzi scheme]] story broken on December 11, 2008. Over 13,000 investors, especially from the Jewish community, lost upwards of about $50 13 billion.
He was arrested and charged on [[December]] 11 with Madoff pleaded guilty to securities [[fraud]]. His company was, according to his own words after his arrest, "Basically a giant Ponzi Scheme." <ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/12/11/madoff.arrest/?iref=mpstoryview Former Nasdaq chairman charged with fraud.</ref> He pleaded guilty on March 12, 2009, and was put in jail. He will be sentenced to 150 years in June, and observers expect he will spend the rest of his life in federal prison.
Before his arrest and during much of his life, Madoff was involved a leader in [[philanthropy]].
==Silver Lining==
* Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: $102,000.
==Sentencing==
Madoff went to court on March 12, 2009. He now lives in a small jail cell with cinderblock walls, instead of his multi-million dollar Manhattan penthouse.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090313/ap_on_re_us/madoff_scandal</ref>
== External links ==
[[Category:Business]]
[[Category:Corruption]]