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Jason DeCrow/AP/Press Association Images
File photo from December 2008 of Bernie Madoff in New York.
# Madoff
Bernie Madoff's wife says couple attempted suicide over ponzi fraud fallout
In her first television interview, Ruth Madoff says that she was “glad” the couple woke up after taking pills they thought would kill them.
THE WIFE of the Wall Street financier sentenced to 150 years in prison for orchestrating a $64.8 billion ponzi scheme says she and her husband attempted suicide at their home in Manhattan after he confessed to the crime.
Thousands of Bernie Madoff’s clients lost money in his fraudulent investment scheme.
Speaking to the CBS programme 60 Minutes, Ruth Madoff said she and her husband Bernie received threatening phone calls and hate mail “beyond anything”.
The Madoffs’ son Andrew told the programme that he had received a package containing some of his mother’s jewellery around this time, but did not find out why for some time.
and decided to take a number of pills together on Christmas Eve 2008.
“It was very impulsive and I’m glad we woke up,” she said in a clip released by the broadcaster:
The couple’s son Mark took his life in December 2010. His wife Stephanie recently published a memoir about their life and the impact of his father’s ponzi scheme on the couple and on the family.
She told ABC News recently that she blames Bernie Madoff for her husband’s death, saying that Bernie’s confession “destroyed” her husband
The full CBS interview is due to air this Sunday.
