Where to begin? After the Mets lost out on re-signing their star shortstop Jose Reyes, who is reportedly taking a $102 million deal from the Florida Marlins, the local papers are opining about the once-Amazin's prospects. The Post's Joel Sherman explains why the Mets should trade David Wright now and offers others ideas about potential team rosters, and adds this, "Privately Mets officials will say they do not see the likelihood for strong contention before 2014." more ›

Yesterday, a trader who worked for Bernard Madoff for four decades pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to the multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. David Kugel said, "I am deeply sorry for my actions and the harm suffered by the victims." more ›

At the Securities and Exchange Commission, it seems that totally dropping the ball on Bernard Madoff's massive is not a fire-able offense. The Wall Street Journal reports, "Eight Securities and Exchange Commission employees have been disciplined over their handling of the $50 billion Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, but none were fired, an agency spokesman said Friday. A ninth individual left the agency after receiving notice of a proposed disciplinary action, according to the spokesman." more ›

Another week, another book about Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff! Tomorrow, a new book about the sociopathic man and his family, Truth and Consequence: Life Inside the Madoff Family, by Laurie Sandell—with cooperation from his Ruth Madoff and son Andrew Madoff—will be released. Copies have been obtained in advance by media outlets—the Associated Press got one on Thursday and the Post found one. Revelations include how Madoff was obsessed with making sure his office blinds were perfectly lined up, he sent his son a suicidal-seeming text message, and he was a real charmer with his son's fiancee. more ›

On the heels of his daughter-in-law's damning memoir and his wife's interview with 60 Minutes, Bernard Madoff is effectively in the midst of a PR blitz, since he's granted an exclusive interview with Barbara Walters. ABC News reports, "He said he is relieved to be free from years of fear he'd be discovered as a fraud and finally has overcome thoughts of suicide. Repeatedly throughout the interview he told Walters that he was guilty of the crimes that put him in prison, saying 'I deserved to be punished. I deserved to go to jail.'" more ›

In a new interview with 60 Minutes airing this Sunday, Ruth Madoff claims that she and disgraced husband Bernie Madoff attempted to commit suicide together, shortly after his massive Ponzi scheme was revealed. In the first interview she has given about the Madoff crimes, Ruth told Morley Safer, "I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening. We had terrible phone calls. Hate mail, just beyond anything and I said '...I just can't go on anymore.'" more ›

The biggest Ponzi schemer—that we know of—Bernard Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison, a far cry from his life between homes all over the world. But apparently he likes being behind bars! His daughter-in-law Stephanie Madoff Mack reveals what he said in a letter to her, "As you can imagine, I am quite the celebrity, and am treated like a Mafia don." more ›

Last December, Mark Madoff committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his Soho apartment, apparently distraught over repercussions from his father Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme. This Friday, ABC News is running an interview with his widow Stephanie Madoff, and she does not like her father-in-law at all. more ›

After years of bickering, a federal appeals court has ruled that victims of Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme are only entitled to recover the money they actually put into the fake investment fund—not the imagined profits. As Bloomberg News reports, "The federal appeals court in New York said today that trustee Irving Picard can calculate losses by subtracting the amount withdrawn from an investor’s account from the total placed with Madoff, the so-called net investment method." more ›

Has Ruth Madoff finally decided that loyalty to her imprisoned, multi-billion dollar Ponzi-scheming husband is less important than a relationship with her son? The Daily Mail says that she hasn't been to the federal prison in North Carolina to visit Bernard Madoff for six months because "she allegedly seeks reconciliation with her son," Andrew. The Madoffs' other son Mark killed himself last year, apparently distraught over the fallout from his father's scheme and its effect on his own life. more ›

Yesterday Apple briefly eclipsed Exxon as the biggest company (by market cap) in all the land. So how can a proud Apple stockholder celebrate? Why not with a new iPad case made from Ponzi-master Bernie Madoff's auctioned off clothes? What's $250-$500 for a piece of history that won't actually protect your pricey tablet? more ›

Irving Picard, the trustee in charge of returning the money lost to Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme, is getting ready to write a whole lotta checks. A judge has given his approval for Picard's request to make his first payments to Madoff customers with approved claims. He'll be cutting 1,224 checks this quarter, worth an average of $222,551, from a fund of $2.6 billion dollars. The news comes two-and-a-half years after Madoff's monumental scheme was revealed. more ›

According to a Curbed tipster, a new four-bedroom rental available for just $32,500 at 158 Mercer Street is the former apartment of the late Mark Madoff—expensive rentals are all the rage, don't you know? Curbed says, "The listing doesn't make the connection (we can't blame it for wanting to fly under the radar) and we haven't yet heard back from the broker, but the details line up: Mark Madoff and wife Stephanie purchased the 4,169-square-foot #4M for $6.075 million in 2005. The brokerbabble describes the apartment as having 'a very high end, magnificent renovation.'" Of course, Madoff, son of Ponzi schemer extraordinaire Bernard Madoff, killed himself in his apartment last December. more ›

Besides ruining the Mets and their fans' retirement funds, Bernie Madoff may cause divorces to go on forever. In a lawsuit that has reached the New York Court of Appeals, a man is seeking to revise the terms of his divorce because he lost a considerable amount of money after Madoff's pyramid scheme collapsed. more ›

Considering how well the auction of Bernie Madoff's junk went last year is it any surprise that his wine collection did boffo business on the auction block as well? Yesterday's auction of more than 250 bottles of wine and liquor in 59 lots sold for $41,530—$20,000 dollars more than the highest pre-bid estimate for the set. Somebody even spent $300 to buy four airline-size bottles of booze! more ›

HBO is moving ahead with making a movie about infamous Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff—and the cable network wants Robert De Niro as the "$65 billion" man. According to Deadline, HBO just optioned the book, "The Wizard Of Lies: Bernie Madoff And The Death Of Trust," by NY Times reporter Diana Henriques and is in talks with De Niro. more ›

Drink your way through a little bit of Ponzi-tainted history next week, when the personal wine collection of one Bernie Madoff goes up on the auction block at Morrell & Co. Will the taste of pyramid schemes be smooth and earthy, or robust and fruity? You'll have to bid to find out. more ›

Iriving Picard, the trustee in charge of finding and returning as much of the $17.3 billion in principal lost in Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme, is ready to give some money back. Specifically, Picard is seeking permission to distribute $272 million of the roughly $10 billion he has recouped to 1,224 of Madoff's account holders (so about $222,000 per account). more ›

After years of silence, Bernie Madoff has been giving a very few select interviews the last couple months. We've learned that he thinks the banks were complicit with his massive Ponzi scheme, he feels terrible about what he's done to his family, and he's not quite sure if he's a sociopath or not. In a brand new, intense interview with the Financial Times, Madoff retold the whole twisted story of his rise and fall in the money world, and also claimed to possibly have a new job opportunity: developing ethics courses for some of the elite businesses schools in the country. more ›

In a victory for President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, The Wall Street Journal reports that an insider trading scam that grossed $32 million and spanned 17 years was broken up by the FBI yesterday. Sure, $32 million represents 18% of Bernie Madoff's diamond-encrusted bidet budget. But it should be noted that the two men involved did an excellent job of staying under the radar, "with tradecraft of which Gordon Gecko would have been proud" gushed one FBI agent who just started subscribing to Netflix Instant. more ›

How much trouble are the Wilpons in? The Mets owners, who were investors in Bernard Madoff's huge multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme and are being targeted by the trustee trying to recover money for Madoff victims, are trying to sell part of the team to raise some money and now the Post reports that JPMorgan Chase "is trying to recruit other institutions to join a syndicate to put together a new loan that would tide the Mets over until they sell a minority stake in the ballclub." more ›

Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine is now an ESPN analyst and the director of public health and safety for Stamford, Connecticut. But now the rumor mill is churning after ESPN reported he met with financial backers to possibly buy part of the Mets. Valentine said last night, "I've talked to a number of people interested in purchasing part of the Amazin's, but I'm not formally with any group that is actively pursuing this venture," but can't Mets fans dream? more ›

Bernard Madoff is on a roll! After recently chatting with the NY Times about his multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme, Inmate #61727054 at Butner Federal Correctional Complex collect-called New York magazine writer Steve Fishman and said, "I don’t have that much money in my commissary account," before railing, "Does anybody want to hear that I had a successful business and did all these wonderful things for the industry? And got all these awards? And so did my family? I did all of this during the legitimate years. No. You don’t read any of that." more ›

Bernard Madoff has given his first behind-bars interview to NY Times reporter Diane Henriques, who is writing a book about his massive Ponzi scam, and he now says that other institutions—banks and hedge funds he wouldn't name— had to know his too-good-to-be-true returns were all smoke and mirrors. Madoff said, "They had to know. But the attitude was sort of, 'If you’re doing something wrong, we don’t want to know.'" more ›