We’ve been focusing a great deal on the Jewish organizations, institutions and foundations that lost money in the Madoff scandal.
But plenty of individuals and families were taken in by the scheme.
Click here to listen to NPR’s report on duped investors in Palm Beach.
The New York Post has a first-person article titled "We’ve Lost Everything," by a woman named Bette Greenfield, a lifelong New Jersey resident who retired in March and moved to Florida in July:
‘m not from a wealthy family living on a big estate in Palm Beach or in an Upper East Side apartment. I’m 71. I’ve worked hard and lived a quiet life – and have just lost my retire ment savings in the blink of an eye, thanks to Bernie Madoff.
When my brother told me the news, I said, "I guess I’m going to have to live in a refrigerator box now."
I made jokes because it was the only thing I could do to not burst into tears.
How did this happen?
My father, a CPA, was smart and an extremely knowledgeable financial ad viser. As he aged, he wanted to have something where he could put his savings and live off the interest.
He was told by one of his wealthy Palm Beach friends that Bernie Madoff was a miracle worker with invest ments, and that he could pull strings to get Dad into a trust fund with Madoff Securities.
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