Largest Ponzi scheme in history

What to remember

Late 2008 brought to light a financial scandal named after its author, Bernie Madoff. His Ponzi scheme is the largest in history: prosecutors estimated the size of the fraud at $64,800,000,000.

Prosecutors worked from the amounts shown in the accounts of Madoff's 4,800 clients as of November 30, 2008.

Madoff was no outsider on Wall Street. A former chairman of the Nasdaq, he had founded his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, in 1960 and was its chairman. In December 2008 he admitted that the wealth management side of his company was in fact a Ponzi scheme worth several billion dollars.