Bernard Madoff amazed he got away with $65bn fraud for so long

Madoff admitted that 'there were several times that I met with the SEC and thought "they got me"'

• Graeme Wearden
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 29 July 2009 10.39 BST
• Article history

Bernard Madoff leaves a federal court in New York. The disgraced financier was 'very candid' while speaking to lawyers in prison. Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Bernard Madoff has admitted that he cannot believe he got away with his $65bn (£38bn) fraud for so long, in his first interview since being jailed.

The disgraced financier chose to lift the lid on his crimes to lawyers who represent victims of his Ponzi scheme. According to San Francisco attorney Joseph Cotchett, Madoff was "very candid" and an "absolute gentleman" during their four-and-a-half hour meeting on Tuesday.

Cotchett said that Madoff "answered every single question and shed a lot of extraordinary details on exactly how he was able to get away with the scam".

Madoff also admitted that "there were several times that I met with the SEC and thought 'they got me'".

Cotchett, a donor to the Democratic party, is a heavy-hitting trial attorney. Earlier this week his firm, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, filed two fraud suits against Bernard Madoff's family, including wife Ruth, various accountants and feeder funds. They are not suing Madoff himself, who was jailed for 150 years a month ago after pleading guilty to 11 charges of theft, fraud and money laundering.

It is possible that the details disclosed by Madoff will aid Cotchett if and when these fraud suits come to court. Cotchett said he would be amending the details of the complaints in the light of the interview.

It appears that Madoff was keen to speak to Cotchett to try to exonerate his wife. ABC News quoted Cotchett saying: "He cares about Ruth, but he doesn't give a ---- about his two sons, Mark and Andrew."

Meanwhile, Irving Picard, the trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff's assets, sued the disgraced money manager's wife today, asking for nearly $45m that he says was spent on "a life of splendour".

Picard said Ruth Madoff had received tens of millions of dollars from Madoff's business in the last six years while the business received no corresponding benefit or value in return. He said she had pocketed $23.7m from the business in the last two years, including $1.1m to pay personal expenses charged to Mrs Madoff's American Express card and $2.7m in 2007 to pay for her yacht. He said some or all of the money was subsequently transferred to family members or affiliated entities.

Madoff is serving his sentence in the Butner Federal Prison, a medium-security facility in North Carolina.

Cotchett said that Madoff looked in good health, and appeared to have been exercising. "He looked a lot better than he has in some months since I've seen photographs of him," he said.