NEW YORK – Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme led to former New York Mets landlords involved in a $ 1 billion lawsuit, has died in prison at the age of 82.
Madoff burned thousands of investors, outnumbered regulators and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. He died of natural causes at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina.
Its victims included director Steven Spielberg, actor Kevin Bacon and Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. But he also had connections with sports figures. Hall of Fame player Sandy Koufax was a client. Former Mets owners Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz were also major investors. Their involvement changed the trajectory of the franchise.
Wilpon and Katz had more than 500 accounts at Madoff and were sued for $ 1 billion by the administrator for victims who claimed they knew or should have known about fraudulent returns from Madoff’s scheme, according to The New York Times.
Madoff was known for his double-digit reports and word spread. Koufax was a high school friend of Wilpon’s. Former Mets infielder Tim Teufel, former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman and former New York Islanders player Bob Nystrom have also invested in Madoff.
In addition, the Mets Limited Partnership, the New York Mets Foundation and the Brooklyn Baseball Company – the company that owns the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones – had accounts with Madoff.
While Madoff did business with the rich and famous, he also deceived everyday investors and charities. He was so offended that he had to wear a bulletproof vest in court.
Madoff acknowledged to prosecutors that he had lost more than $ 50 billion to investors.
The collapse of his Ponzi scheme has drastically affected the Mets’ finances, forcing Wilpons to borrow $ 65 million to cover his salary, including $ 25 million from other baseball owners. The team previously negotiated complicated money-delaying contracts – including the infamous Bobby Bonilla deal that pays the retired slugger $ 1 million a year by 2035 – to invest money with Madoff.
“Bernie was part of the Mets’ business plan,” a former New York Times employee told the team in 2011.
The results reduced the team’s salary, from $ 140 million in 2011 to $ 95 million in 2012 to $ 85 million in 2014, as salaries increased throughout the game. Subsequently, Wilponi slowly lost their strength and financial stakes in the team.
Current Mets owner Steve Cohen bought a $ 20 million stake in the Mets after the collapse of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, eventually acquiring majority ownership of the franchise from the Wilpon and Katz families in September 2020.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March 2009 to securities fraud and other charges. In June 2009, a judge ordered a $ 171 billion confiscation order that stripped Madoff of all personal property, including $ 80 million in real estate, investment and assets.
The scandal also had a personal effect on Madoff’s family: one of his sons, Mark, committed suicide on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest in 2010. And Madoff’s brother, Peter, who helped run the business, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2012, despite claims to be in the dark about his brother’s misdeeds.
Madoff’s other son, Andrew, died of cancer at the age of 48. Madoff’s wife, Ruth, is still alive.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.