Madoff Beat-Down in the Federal Pokey

By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times

They say money is the root of all evil...and in the case of disgraced Ponzi scheme swindler, Bernard Madoff, it really seems to be that way. Madoff, according to the Wall Street Journal, was attacked by another prisoner over...what else...money at the federal prison where he is serving a 150-year sentence.The attack occured in December.

The report said that the attack occurred last December while Madoff was being treated at the prison infirmary for high blood pressure. he had been moved to a low-security facilty for medical treatment and was later attacked.

According to the source, Madoff suffered a broken nose, fractured ribs and cuts to his head and face. The WSJ says the information came from a Felon serving time at the Federal Penitentary in Butner, North Carolina.

Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence at the Federal Penitentary in Butner, N.C. after he pleaded guilty to a $65 billion investment scheme that bilked thousands from investors.

The Wall Street Journal said details of Madoff's attack could not be independently verified. But it said another inmate who recently was released from Butner confirmed the assault.
The Wall Street Journal said the Bureau of Prisons told it that the incident had been investigated, including an interview with Madoff.

Click HERE for the article.

Prison Officials: Madoff ill, not Injured in Cell Block Beatdown

BY George Rush and Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Despite media reports to the contrary, the federal Bureau of Prisons reports Bernie Madoff was
not hospitalized because of an assault, but because of high blood pressure.

Superswindler Bernie Madoff was beaten down by old age, not hurt in a cell-block beatdown, prison officials said Thursday.

The feds categorically denied North Carolina TV reports that the convicted 71-year-old Ponzi crook was hurt in a jailhouse fight Friday.

U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said Madoff was transferred to a prison medical facility last week after suffering from hypertension and dizziness.

ABC11 Eyewitness News in Raleigh had reported that Madoff suffered facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung in a prisoner-on-prisoner attack .

The report said the con man was rushed to Duke University Hospital in Durham.

Madoff's lawyer Ira Lee Sorkin insisted there was no truth to the report.

"The Bureau of Prisons said that report was not accurate," Sorkin said. "Indeed, Mr. Madoff was treated for dizzy spells and high blood pressure. That's all I'm going to say."

A spokeswoman at Duke also said no one by the name of Bernard Madoff has been treated at the university hospital in the past week.

Madoff is doing time at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C., where his fellow inmates include mob boss Carmine Persico and Omar Abdel-Rahman, the so-called Blind Sheik who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Sorkin said Madoff is expected to be returned to the medium-security prison once he is better.

The disgraced financier was sentenced in June to 150 years in prison for defrauding investors of $65 billion - the largest swindle in U.S. history.

The long-running scheme unraveled during the economic downturn when his clients tried to withdraw money Madoff could not produce.

Since pleading guilty to the scam, federal authorities have been trying to recoup some of the lost fortunes of the victims by auctioning off Madoff's property.

Bernie Madoff Moved to Medical Wing of Federal Prison

WASHINGTON - Bernard Madoff has been moved from a North Carolina federal prison to a prison medical facility.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said Wednesday that Madoff was moved Friday. She says the bureau won't publicly discuss the reasons for an inmate's transfer, citing privacy concerns.

The New York Times, citing a source familiar with the matter, said Madoff was under observation after experiencing dizziness and high blood pressure.

Madoff has been imprisoned since March. That's when he pleaded guilty to fraud charges and admitted cheating thousands of investors out of billions of dollars. He is serving a 150-year prison term.

The 71-year-old was arrested a year ago after he confessed his private-investment business was a fraud.

He is being treated at the Federal Medical Center, part of the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C.

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Madoff begins his sentence in a cushy federal prison?! "its prisoners enjoy a mild climate, access to e-mail"

World-class fraudster Bernard Madoff is beginning what is likely to be a lifetime sentence at one of the nation's cushiest prisons. The record-setting scammer has arrived at the Federal Correctional Complex at Butner, N.C. It's no Club Fed--the U.S. Bureau of Prisons' minimum-security camps, which are the easiest places to do federal time, are only for offenders with 10 years or less on their sentences. Bernie's is for 150.

But Madoff shouldn't be too despondent. Neither should Marc Dreier, the swindling super lawyer who was handed a 20-year fraud sentence on July 13. Prison camps have always been white-collar convicts' destination of choice, but even fraudsters with long sentences can find ways to make doing time easier--and to avoid sharing a cell with an ax murderer.
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