Montauk Pioneer - June 26, 2009

Ruth Madoff is the modern day Hester Prine from Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. Perhaps in time she will be forced to display a "B" or an "M" on everything she wears. I was at a charity fundraiser this last weekend at the Wolffer Estate and overheard someone describing how restaurants won't take her reservations, hair dressers won't do her hair, nobody wants anything to do with her, and that apparently she is even heckled when seen in public.

Recent articles across the nation pop up to explain the progress the government has had in going after the joint property and assets that Ruth and husband Bernard "Bernie" Madoff have squirreled away. Her lawyers claim she had assets from her family while others argue her family invested in her husband's Ponzi scheme and therefore the money is at least tainted. This story is ugly, tragic, criminal, and local.

Why is it local? Because like all of us, the Madoffs had a special place in their hearts for Montauk, having a home on the ocean valued somewhere in between $3 million and $7 million. They went to the IGA, they went to White's, they ate at Gosman's, they bought gas for their boats at Montauk Marine Basin and they probably even had pancakes at John's.

But who really knew who they were unless you were a big-time investor or someone who happened to know your investment-fund personalities? Now those who were affected by this Ponzi scheme are demanding the sale of all joint Bernie-Ruth Madoff assets, including their Montauk home.

The deal Bernie Madoff made with federal prosecutors that had him pleading guilty to felony fraud and landing himself behind bars for the rest of his life, is not an open book. What was promised in terms of protecting his wife remains unknown. Many believe she should be rotting in jail with her husband, after flying around in private jets to flashy mansions scattered around the world with stolen money for so many years. There is scorn from those who watched the Madoffs move through social circles only to embezzle even from the most sacred of Jewish charities. All with an arrogance that now precludes any feelings of mercy; yet there she is, a 67-year-old woman ruined, her life-long husband in jail forever and her family name disgraced.

A Park Avenue attorney out east for the 30th year of the Shelter Island 10K said the following, "It is up to the government, but it's a tough call. Do they play hard ball and never find out where the secret bank accounts are, or do they make a series of small-time deals, that may even amount to tens of millions, just to get back a few billion for the duped investors?" He believes Mrs. Madoff's attorneys should be public defenders so that she can't spend huge amounts of, perhaps illegally-acquired, money defending herself. He even admitted wishing that he had the case but then quickly said "Actually, no thank you."

Reported stories of swindled Montauk neighbors are popping up in local publications and, of course, the comments are not without bitterness and hatred. That is why it must without a doubt be a nightmare to be Ruth Madoff, a nightmare that will no doubt end only when the angel of mercy comes. Until then, she will talk mostly with lawyers, immediate family, and whoever she can pay to listen. I don't see her turning over all her assets to charity and spending the rest of her life doing community service for the poor, nor do I see her running for public office; but I too have a Mom, and it is in that light I even for a second think of pity. I suppose if it were my life savings she was using to air condition her Montauk mansion, I might feel more bitterness like her neighbors. The truth is that the rest of her life will be the time she has to serve for partnering with her husband Bernie, who somehow all alone created and managed the largest Ponzi scheme ever.

Bernie swindled Steven Spielberg, he swindled Yeshiva University, and he swindled his neighbors in Montauk, New York City, and Palm Beach. Only Ruth Madoff truly knows what she knew of the illegal activities. Only she knows if her husband is in jail solely for his crimes or to protect her too.