The disrgaced New York financier Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison by a court after pleading guilty to a massive Ponzi scheme, which severely impacted, among others, many Jewish philanthropies and individuals. The sentence means that the 71-year-old, once a highly-respected Wall Street figure, will spend the rest of his life in jail.
He took billions of dollars from investors who trusted his reputation for providing spectacular returns and most of it has not been traced. The money was never invested but was put in banks and used to shore up the illusion that his business was trading successfully, as well as financing his luxury lifestyle.
