His wife ruth. I trusted him. And son andrew. Thats who i am. My name is madoff. And ill live with that for the rest of my life. Speak out about crime, guilt, suicide. Mr. Madoff, what do you have to say for yourself . And the day bernie admitted to committing the largest financial fraud in history. And he said, i have a confession to make. Ive been running a ponzi scheme. [ticking] do you think you could pull off this scam today . Given the same security measures . Yep. Easily. Piece of cake. Sam eshaghoffs scam was getting paid thousands of dollars to take the s. A. T. Test for other students. He did it at least 16 times, scoring in the 97th percentile of the country. I would call him an academic gun for hire. Thats what he was. Welcome to 60 minutes on cnbc. Im bob simon. In this edition, we examine two very different kinds of fraud. Bernie madoffs wife and surviving son break their silence about wall streets most infamous criminal. And later, we visit a high school con man who figured the best way to make the grade was to cheat the s. A. T. S but first, in december 2008, Bernie Madoff confessed to running a 65billion ponzi scheme, the largest financial fraud in history. While madoff is serving 150 years in prison, his family had to deal with the consequences of his crimes. His wife ruth divested of most of her great wealth and derided by a suspicious world. Their son mark dead, driven to suicide by shame and accusations of guilt. Their other son andrew isolated, trying to live with the disgrace. Are they innocent or willing partners . In october of 2011, ruth and andrew gave their first interview since Bernie Madoffs arrest. They sat down with morley safer to speak out about crime, punishment, and the shame of being a madoff. Its a tough name to live with. It sure is. Ruth madoff. You feel the shame . Of course i feel the shame. I can barely walk down the street without worrying about people recognizing me. And Andrew Madoff. From the very beginning of this whole episode, ive had absolutely nothing to hide. And ive been eager, i would say almost desperate, to speak out publicly and tell people that im absolutely not involved. Andrew and ruth madoff speak out in the book truth and consequences, a more or less tellall arranged by andrews fiancee, catherine hooper, an attempt to separate the family from the fathers crimes. Is it dismaying for you that no matter what you say people arent gonna believe you . I think in many ways it is dismaying, but Public Opinion has to be something that doesnt matter to us. What matters to us is the truth. Its really hard for people to believe that you didnt know, that you must have known. I cant explain it. I mean, i trusted him. Why would it ever occur to me that it wasnt legal . The business washis reputation was almost legendary. Why would i ever think that there was something sinister going on . It was 1954 when ruth alpern met Bernie Madoff in queens, new york. I just saw him, and i was sort of swept away, i think. She married him at age 18. They had two sons mark, then andrew. Bernie was building up his Money Management business. A typical middleclass Family Living on long island. We were both solid parents and valued our family and so proud of our boys. It was a dream, really. Exactly when Bernie Madoff went wrong is unclear. But as his reputation for delivering steady profits grew, the madoffs began living the good life. A penthouse in manhattan, homes in palm beach and the south of france, and yachts in both places. He was a big figure in the industry. He was the chairman of nasdaq. He was constantly being honored as man of the year of this organization and that. And thatthat had an effect on me. Both sons went to work as traders for their fathers firm in the late 80s, a time authorities believe madoffs ponzi scheme was well under way. Why would your father want to taint his sons by bringing into a situation that could, well, spell disaster . You know, thats thats a great question. And thats something that i really agonize over as a son. You know, what my father did was so horrible. And its hard for me to hard for me to understand that. Bernard l. Madoff securities employed over 100 people, but it seemed like a family business. His brother peter and several cousins worked there. Mark and andrew worked on the 19th floor of new yorks lipstick building, where they legitimately traded securities for the firm and for outside clients. The Investment Advisory businessthe ponzi scheme was housed two floors below, where their father never made any trades at all. He was simply creating phony paper statements that showed steady profits for his clients, his victims. Access to the 17th floor was highly restricted. You must have been curious about why the 17th floor was such a secret place. When you or mark asked him about his end of the business, what did he say . It was always very similar responses. You guys have your business to worry about, and let me worry about my business, and the conversation would end there. But people say, look, theres no way these kids could not have at the very least suspected something was going on. Well, keep in mind these were completely separate businesses. We were executing hundreds of thousands of transactions a day, and that kept all of us incredibly busy. And it just didnt occur to me that he could be involved in any kind of criminal activity. Andrew says his father would often walk his clients through the 19th floor to show actual trades being made. You feel that the legitimacy of the trading business offered protection to what your father was doing. Absolutely. Absolutely. That he was using you and your brother . Absolutely. It was one of the hardest things to come to grips with, in trying to get my head around this, was that feeling that i had been used almost as a human shield by him. Heitsits unforgivable. No father should do that to their sons. [ticking] coming up, wall streets biggest crook comes clean. He called from the office and said, im coming home with the boys. I have something to talk about. Mr. Madoff, what do you have to say for yourself . More madoff when 60 minutes on cnbc returns. [ticking] [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you wont just find us online, youll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. So when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. Because personal Service Starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. Our support teams are nearby, ready to help. Its no wonder so many investors are saying. [ all ] im with scottrade. The basic concept of wall street. Andrew madoff says he thought his father was a financial genius. There were suspicions about Bernie Madoffs remarkably consistent returns, but the s. E. C. Repeatedly cleared him of any wrongdoing. What troubled andrew was his fathers refusal to discuss any plans for a succession. His plan was that he had no plan. And he would say that when he dies, his end of the business dies. And again, it was always the same response, thats the way it is, and its not gonna change. In the fall of 2008, the World Economy began to implode and markets were in free fall. Big investors wanted out. Redemption after redemption strained madoffs scheme to its limits. On december 10, 2008, with only a few hundred million left of the billions invested with him, madoff realized the game was over. He told his wife to transfer 10 million from her brokerage account at the firm into a personal checking account. Did you not wonder what on earth is happening here . 10 million is a lot of money. It wasnt atypical for him to put money in an account and take it out. I didnt think anything of it, actually. That same morning, Bernie Madoff called a family meeting in his office. And he started to try and speak to us, and he couldnt. He sort of fell apart, started to cry a little bit. And it was shocking to see that. I mean, this was not a man who was emotional in that way at all. He said that maybe it would be easier if we talked elsewhere, and he suggested maybe we should go up to his apartment. He called from the office and said, im coming home with the boys. I have something to talk about. Came in, we went into a room, four of us, and he said, i have a confession to make. Ive been running a ponzi scheme. He said, 50 billion. He said, everything ive been doing is all a big lie. He saidhe said, the business is a ponzi scheme, and the firm is completely insolvent. And im broke. And then he just started sobbing. And i was. I was shocked. Iit wasi felt like my head exploded. I mean, i dont think if he had told me he was an alien i couldve been more surprised. He said that the firm had liabilities of 50 billion. It never occurred to me that his business had anything like that kind of anything like that under management. It wasit was shocking. Your mother, what was her reaction . She looked she looked shocked. She asked, whats a ponzi scheme . Was her first question. She didnt even understand that. I think it was me who answered and said that it means that its all fake. That dadsyou know, is hes not been doing what he says hes been doing. And he followed that up and said, yes, ive been lying to all of you all of these years. Ive been lying to everybody. Ive been lying to myself, he said. And your brother . My brother was trembling with rage. He was absolutely furious. Mark was the first one to stand up and said, you know, im out of here. And he stormed out of the room. And i immediately followed him and walked out. You know, theres a lot of people out there who are saying, or will be saying as they watch this, this is all a charade. This was something that the madoffs set up to get themselves off the hook. I wish it were. I wish it were. I wish none of this was real. You know, i knew absolutely nothing about this before my father shared the information with me. And it was the most shocking and terrible moment of my life. I was as stunned as they. I was kind of paralyzed. Bernie got up and said, im going back to the office. Was he emotional in any way . I dont remember that either. He must have been. Apologetic in any way . [sighs] probably, yes. Iits sort of a blank now. Im not hedging here. I donti just simply dont remember every detail. I was in such a state. And later that day, that evening, you both turned up at the Office Christmas party. I know. He phoned me from the office and said, we have to go to the Office Christmas party. So i got myself together and went over there. We stayed a half an hour. And we just went home. And the next morning, the fbi was there to arrest him at about 7 00 a. M. Andrew and mark madoff had turned their father in. Shortly after the arrest, ruth madoff called andrew, pleading with him to cosign his fathers 10million bail bond. And i said, you know, forget it. Theres no way. I mean, how could you even ask that question . No, im not signing that bail bond. Thats crazy. I just wanted him to come home. I was so afraid. Afraid of. I mean, the whole idea of going to prison is sort of unthinkable to me. I dont think i ever knew anybody that went to prison. Mr. Madoff, what do you have to say for yourself . Bail was eventually guaranteed by ruth and madoffs brother peter, and bernie was released. All of his assets were frozen, but in a stunning breach of the Court Order Barring the transfer of property, a large and extremely valuable envelope arrived at Andrew Madoffs apartment. I tore open the envelope andandand dumped it out. And it was absolutely heartbreaking. These were pieces of jewelry that i recognized. Things that i had seen my mother wearing over the over the years. And i couldnt understand how she could do this. I mean, what were they thinking . And it wasnt until three years later that i had a chance to ask her, what were you thinking when you sent me that jewelry . I dont understand. And she told me that she and my father planned to kill themselves. And they put together that package beforehand and sent it out. Did they try to kill themselves . Yes, they did. I dont know who whose idea it was. But we decided to kill ourselves because it was it was so horrendous what was happening. We had terrible phone calls, hate mail, just beyond anything. And i said, i cant. I just cant go on anymore. Thats when i packed up some things to send to my sons and my grandchildren. I had some lovely antique things and things that i thought they might want. I mailed them. It was christmas eve. That added to the whole depression. We took pills and woke up the next day. [chuckles] what did you take . I think ambien. How many . I dont even remember. I hadi took what we had. He took more. Did you leave notes . No. It was very impulsive. And im glad we woke up. But you must have talked. This is a rather large decision to make. It wasnt hard at the time. It was impulsive, and i just wanted out. [ticking] when we come back, life in the madoff apartment and the death of a son. [ticking] to the best vacation spot on earth. all the gulf it doesnt matter which of our great states folks visit. Mississippi, alabama, louisiana or florida, theyre gonna love it. Shaul, your alabama hospitality is incredible. Thanks, karen. Love your mississippi outdoors. I vote for your florida beaches, dawn. Bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. Were having such a great year on the gulf, weve decided to put aside our rivalry. Now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. 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Whats more, some of his closest friends and family who had trusted him with their life savings faced ruin. 30 seconds, dave. [horn honks] with madoff under house arrest, the world staked out his penthouse on 64th street, obsessed by what might be happening behind the drawn shades. There were lawyers coming for meetings at the apartment. We watched a lot of television, and i cooked. Was there remorse . Was there guilt . Yes, there was remorse. Or was it sort of selfpity . I think, in a way, he was relieved at the beginning that he was finished. But you must have asked yourself a thousand times, why . You could have been a perfectly comfortable, even wealthy family. Without question. Without this. I dont understand it. I dont its hard for me to say this, but i dont think the money was the part of it. I think he got stuck. Thats what he said. And he didnt have the courage to faceface things when they might have been able to be faced on a much smaller scale. Madoff repeatedly told authorities that he had acted alone. Did your wife have anything to do with this, sir . Get out of here. That his family knew nothing. But who would believe Bernie Madoff . Do you have anything to say to the investors . No, i dont. Ruth madoff seemed to get the worst of it. It was said she had an office at the firm, that she had been the bookkeeper. I was the bookkeeper. I was the receptionist. I worked for bernie in 1961 when i graduated from college. And i left in 1963 when mark was born, and then andy, and i was a stayathome mom all those years. And later on, when the boys started to work there, we lived within walking distance. And i had an office there where i took care of decorating things and house things and boat bills and managing those things. But i was never the bookkeeper after 1963. Probably a majority of people cant believe that you can live with someone for 50 years and not know. Its hard for me to believe too. Had you known, would you have turned him in . Im glad i didnt. That would have been tough, but i would have left. Whether id turn him in or not, i dont know. I like to think i would have, but iii couldnt say. She was vilified and shunned, harassed on the subway. The press hounded her with headline after headline. Her fiercest critics were her own sons. From the time of your fathers confession, i gather you had a certain degree of estrangement from your mother. How come . Well, she and i barely spoke for two years. I struggled tremendously trying to understand her decision to stay by my fathers side. I felt so angry with him. So i didnt understand her choice, and i struggled with it, as did mark. I never thought of leaving. I dont know why i didnt. I just knew this man for so long, whom i loved for so many years. I didnt know what else to do but stay there. Three months after his confession, madoff pled guilty. He was later sentenced to 150 years. Ruth madoff agreed to forfeit 80 million and all her worldly goods. All the homes, boats, cars, furniture, even madoffs slippers were auctioned or sold. You were allowed to keep 2. 5 million. To a lot of people, thats a lot of money. It is. Its certainly enough for me. Ive used a lot for legal fees. There is a public perception, and im sure youve heard it, that theres got to be a stash somewhere, you know . Ive heard it. Ive heard it. That Bernie Madoff hid it somewhere, and that you know i wish they