Next on Netflix : Madoff : The Monster of Wall Street

Move over, Wolf of Wall Street; there’s a new monster in town. The name Bernie Madoff is synonymous with Ponzi schemes, financial fraud, & deceit. Netflix’s latest release lends insight into the man behind the 64 billion dollar scam, the most significant fiscal heist in history.

Directed by Joe Berlinger of Crime Scene: Texas Killing Fields, Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes & Conversation with a Killer, this series pertains to a different kind of crime entirely, although Madoff is referred to as a financial sociopath and a serial financial killer by those involved.

Madoffs humble beginnings in a family struggling financially instilled in him a desire to be successful at all costs. Quitting law to marry, he took a desk in his father in laws firm. His unique approach to buying & selling disreputable pink sheet stocks gained him notoriety.

With the backdrop of the Oct '87 Black Monday crash, Madoffs firm’s unflinching stance of never closing to business even when panic hit increased his credibility. As buyer & seller of last resort, he earned the title ‘God of Finance’. In truth, there was no fund and no trades.

How did he evade the authorities for so long? Madoff was a control freak. Outwardly he appeared a calm & likeable man. His proprietary investment strategy initially escaped scrutiny because it appeared to be earning 15% returns for his clients, most of whom were family & friends.

Madoff could never pull a scam of this magnitude off alone. His hedge fund needed a feeder fund, agents who could send financers his way. Enter Avellino and Bienes, A & B, who claimed innocence, & Frank DiPascali, a streetwise young man full of very helpful presuppositions. 

While supposedly completing 10% of all trades on Wall Street at the time, & even with flunkies enabling his malfeasance, in 1992, the Federal Exchange Commission did open an investigation on Bernie L Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Red flags were flying everywhere.

How did Madoff reach such dizzying heights uncompromised? How did his empire eventually crumble, & did Madoff get what he deserved? The series includes copious clips of Madoffs trial testimony. Decked out in grey prison issue jumpsuit, the old man doesn’t exactly exude remorse.

Taking these transactions individually, it’s the work of an ordinary white-collar criminal & an ordinary white-collar crime. But Bernie Madoff, by his own admission, lied for a living for over 40 years. He died while incarcerated in April 2021, aged 82.

You may think you know the story of Madoffs downfall, but in the murky world of Wall Street, with hundreds of thousands of fraudulent fictitious transactions, unregistered businesses, unfettered greed, & zero regulation, who can tell where the lies end & the truth begins?