Ruth Madoff unburdens her soul. Does everybody feel better now?
Filed under: People
Yesterday, following Bernie Madoff's sentencing hearing, his wife Ruth Madoff released a statement in which she tried to firmly separate herself from her husband. "Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused," Mrs. Madoff wrote, claiming that she had no prior knowledge of her husband's crimes. According to Mrs. Madoff, upon her discovery of his actions, she decided that "my life with the man I have known for over 50 years was over."
The success of this move, the latest in her attempts to distance herself from her scofflaw spouse, hinges on the question of integrity and ethics. If the public believes in Mrs. Madoff's integrity, then it's completely acceptable that she got off pretty much scot free; if not, then she becomes further evidence of the cracks in the American legal system, which has allowed her to keep $2.5 million in cash under an asset forfeiture agreement she and Bernie Madoff reached with prosecutors.
The trouble is that, ethically, Ruth has more than a few problems. To begin with, the $80 million in assets that she desperately tried to claim were clearly other people's money. Even if, as she states, she was previously unaware of the nature of her husband's business, she was still trying to claim the cash earlier this month. By the end of March, there was no way that she could not have known where the money came from. For that matter, the massive $2.5 million payout that Federal prosecutors left her with came out of the pockets of Bernie's investors, including the Elie Wiesel foundation and Yeshiva University.
Admittedly, not much is known about Ruth Madoff. Still, anybody looking for a measure of her integrity might do well to take a peek at her cookbook, The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher. Published in 1996, the book lists Madoff and her friend Idee Schoenheim as executive editors. In truth, however, the work was done in its entirety by Karen MacNeil, a food expert who has been quoted as saying that Madoff "was interested in having her name on something that would allow for some sort of fun." McNeil is listed as an editor.
In the grand scheme of things, claiming authorship of a ghost-written book is a minor offense; certainly, it pales beside the crimes of Ruth's husband. However, a case could be made that someone who will lie about the small things may be inclined to lie about the big ones, and that someone willing to take credit for another person's work has exploitative tendencies.
And then, of course, there is the fact that Ruth Madoff worked beside her husband when he began his business almost fifty years ago and still occupied an office in his company as of December 2008. As of 1998, she was claiming to be "director of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities." Granted, this is circumstantial evidence and doesn't prove that she actually knew what Bernie was doing. However, it's hard to believe that the thoughtful author of Ruth's recent letter could be completely ignorant of how Bernie was making his dough.
It's easy to understand why Ruth is throwing Bernie under the bus. Since 1988, the Federal correctional system has not allowed parole, which means that her husband will certainly die behind bars. Even with her remaining millions, Ruth is going to have to adjust to a much harder life and, well, a girl's got to take care of herself. If she has assets hidden somewhere, it will be a long time before she'll be able to get her hands on them; in the meantime, plebeian activities like going to the grocery store and dealing with hoi polloi will be a daily part of her new life. Under the circumstances, Ruth's only real choice is to dump her husband like a ton of wet garbage.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-30-2009 @ 2:54PM
ajnorthaurora said...
she doesn't deserve a peeny take it all an li\et her work for a living like the rest of us poor bastards
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6-30-2009 @ 2:33PM
David said...
Bruce, that is one BIG stretch! She knew about her husband because she had a ghost written cookbook? Please! I don't know for sure if she knew and participated or not ... no one does, at least for now. As for trying to hang onto the $30 mill, where is the surprise in that? And one more thing ... if $2.5 million is "massive" to you, then they must pay pretty puny saleries to hack writers at AOL these days.
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6-30-2009 @ 2:39PM
Bruce Watson said...
David-
You're absolutely right: a ghostwritten cookbook and a multi-billion dollar scam are worlds apart from each other. I would argue, however, that someone who would claim another's work as her own is already operating on a morally shaky footing.
And, regarding my claim that her $2.5 million payout was massive, you might want to consider the fact that the average American family lives on $50,000 per year. In context, Ruth Madoff's payoff is the equivalent of 50 years of room and board FOR A WHOLE FAMILY. Yes, I'd call that massive.
Finally, you're right -- it's not surprising that she tried to hang on to the $80 million. However, that fact speaks more to our increasing cynicism than to any sort of moral compass on Ruth's part.
Bottom line, do you really feel like she deserved the money? Do you really feel like she was completely ignorant of the scheme? Just how gullible are you?
6-30-2009 @ 2:55PM
Michele said...
Every picture I see of B, Madoff looks worse than the one before and I wonder why he hasn't taken his own life as others whom he swindled have done. But it hit me as I read this post that he must stay alive to take the punishment for his family too! I started thinking that if he were to die than the family would be the next target. I run a business and I know there is no way he was able to do all of this on his own. I am sure his family is as much to blame as he is. I think this woman is a horrible person and no matter what she claims, she will have a special place in hell sitting right next to her family and husband of 50+ years.
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6-30-2009 @ 3:02PM
John said...
I just bought a new pair of Jeans, and I have a really nice pair of sneakers. I wonder if she is dating. Probably could use some company.. With only $2.5 mill, does she qualify as a "Cougar?"
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6-30-2009 @ 3:16PM
Doug said...
She won't be without for long. She knows exactly how to set up and run a pyramid scam better than anyone. All she needs is a different name and country!
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6-30-2009 @ 3:30PM
Louida said...
Oh please...she knew her husband was a crook and she is also one herself. That 2.5 million should go to the people that they stoled from.
Lou @
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6-30-2009 @ 3:36PM
OLDER BLUE said...
Bruce,
Can you help perpetrate the nagging cavity that seems to pass us by as if it does not exist..?? I have been asking and going to keep asking this until SOMEONE addresses it fully..... Apparently there is 171 Billion Dollars in assets that are at Bernie's beck and call somewhere... Couldn't that be attached immediately and dispersed to the victims if the 65 Billion Dollar bilking..??????
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6-30-2009 @ 10:40PM
Bruce Watson said...
Older Blue-
Fair points across the board. I don't know about the $171 billion. However, I'm sure that the Madoffs have a few million stashed away here and there. The fact that Ruth is allowed to walk away with $2.5 mil is a travesty.
On the one hand, I have to admit that I don't have all that much sympathy for most of Madoff's victims. After hearing so much about how lower-income subprime borrowers should have known better, I remember thinking that the Madoff scandal was poetic irony. Still, with charitable institutions hurting and financiers committing suicide, there really isn't any way to put a happy face on either the scandal or its aftermath.
The only bright side of all of this is that Madoff is going to prison for the rest of his life. Granted, he was still the beneficiary of a Faustian bargain: a few decades as a billionaire traded for a few years in jail. Still, the idea of Bernie pacing a cell should give all of us something to smile about.
Thanks for dropping by!
6-30-2009 @ 3:45PM
george said...
If anyone one has a spare 2.5 M around , even as puny as it sounds, I'll take it...
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6-30-2009 @ 3:52PM
SJ said...
That David guy sounds like a rich out of touch asshole. Pretty condescending to say $2.5 million is small and then to comment on the writer's salary. Probably a buddy of Bernie, or someone with at least the same moral compass, judging as how he is rushing to the aid of Bernie's criminal wife.
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6-30-2009 @ 3:54PM
SJ said...
that David guy sounds like a rich out of touch condescending asshole. Probably a buddy of Bernie's judging from the way he'd defend anything his wife has done and trying to make $2.5 million seem diminuitive.
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6-30-2009 @ 3:54PM
STATEMAN26 said...
50 years of marriage and Ruth never knew what was going on? She sounds as if she's a veteran of the Gong Show.
Or how to win sympathy from the stupid with the most incredulous lies.
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6-30-2009 @ 4:07PM
brian fox said...
Don't anybody kid themselves - she knew and was in on it but it didn't matter as long as she was rolling in billions stolen from others. Now the whore immediately disowns him since she has to live on a meager $2.5 million - considerably more than the millions of people her and her husband ripped off completely. She should lose it all and then have to get a job salting fries at McDonalds. It is appalling that Americans have no sense of outrage and that however somebody makes lots of money is entirely OK. Frickin sheeple!
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6-30-2009 @ 4:07PM
John said...
The question I have; what happen to the $13 billions? Where are the money deposited; Switzerland, Hong Kong Virgin Islands and others? Where is the money? $13 billions would buy 130,000 houses each $100,000 worth, that a 300,000 occupants city. This can not be hided in one bank where is it?
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6-30-2009 @ 4:54PM
Gloria said...
the whole family should be tried just as he was....all the bonuses and trip and lifes they've had at the expense of others. A wife knows......
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6-30-2009 @ 5:17PM
Lynn said...
She should have been given the clothes on her back, a suitcase with a few change of clothes and toiletries, a $100,000 in cash and sent packing. Let her children support her with their part of the stolen money since many of the people she and her ENTIRE family stole from have less than what she could pack in a suitcase! They should ALL lose everything. $2.5 Mil? I'd be happy with a month's interest on that amount!
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6-30-2009 @ 7:30PM
Jean DeAngelis said...
Forget about the cookbook nonsense. The entire family knew. How can that kind of lifestlye be on going for years and Bernie is the only one who knew, come on guys... you also know there is no Santa Claus, don't you?
The sons, wife, family members and the entire SEC should be in matching silver bracelets. The only thing different about this is: Jews don't steal from Jews, that's the rule he broke. Remember the old saying: Retail was invented for Gentiles.
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6-30-2009 @ 5:40PM
David P. said...
I think everybody is going way off track here. Are the only people writing commentary submissions to this article millionaires? $2.5 million would be a blessedly large sum of money for most of us!
However the question is, does she deserve it? Absolutely NOT! No, it has not been proven whether or not she was aware of the scheme that her husband created. But it has been proven that the money belongs to others, not the Madoff's. Madoff ruined many lives and has taken many lives; this is blood money, plain and simple. Why should she be allowed to continue to live a grand life while so many others are suffering?!
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6-30-2009 @ 5:48PM
Steve Mawson said...
Dear Ruth
We, the people, have a solution to your problem. It is this.
Abandon the life your are so quick to deny you knew existed. Start again, and enroll yourself in university. Pick one that's affordable so you don't whittle too much of the $2.5m away on fees. Live in a frat house or dorm. As you so like cooking, maybe a degree in Home Economics would be up your alley.
Surround yourself with nice, young, male future-doctors or lawyers and maybe you'll be lucky and pick up a new meal ticket. You may have to invest a bit of that 2.5 in a few nips and tucks here and there, but from the looks of it you know who to go and see already !
When you've completed your degree, if you're still not hitched, then start working again. You'd be a great example to the rest and perhaps learn something that's worth learning - humility and respect.
Will you ? We doubt that completely. Shame the law can't enforce that you make the choice between that and a cell in Colorado's ADX prison. With your fake tan and bleached blond hair you'd be a right popular old gal.
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