“From his office on the 17th floor of midtown Manhattan’s red enameled Lipstick Building, Bernard Madoff often handled billions of dollars in a single day.”

“These days, at the medium-security prison here, the man convicted of orchestrating the biggest Ponzi scheme in American history is forbidden from possessing even a handful of quarters”

“Inmates are not allowed to handle money,” reads a sign on a vending machine at the medium-security prison, where visitors — but not inmates — can pay $1.25 for a bottle of water just outside a visitation room

“This is one of many rules that Madoff, who is 75, lives by in the eight-by-10-foot cell he shares with another inmate at the federal correctional facility where he is serving a 150-year sentence.”

“Madoff pleaded guilty in March 2009 to massive investment and securities fraud, admitting to a years-long deception that shattered the lives of thousands of clients — a list that included millionaire investors, middle-class retirees, college endowments and philanthropic organizations.”

“In an interview at Butner last week, Madoff weighed in with his latest views on everything from his favorite politicians to the ties between Washington and Wall Street to details about his life in prison and his severed relationships with family members.”

*** 

Read full POLITICO Pro article here.