Bernard Madoff
Bernard ("Bernie") Lawrence Madoff (; born April 29, 1938) is an American former stockbroker, investment advisor, financier, admitted fraudster, and convicted felon currently serving a life prison sentence for charges related to his massive Ponzi scheme. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, the confessed operator of the largest Ponzi scheme in world history, and the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. Prosecutors estimated the size of the fraud to be $64.8 billion, based on the amounts in the accounts of Madoff's 4,800 clients as of November 30, 2008.Madoff founded a penny stock brokerage in 1960 which eventually evolved into Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. He served as its chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008.