The Madoff Affair (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 12:37:17 +0000

On Dec. 11, 2008, Bernard L. Madoff confessed that his investment business was all "one big lie," a Ponzi scheme that cost investors $65 billion. In this 2009 documentary, FRONTLINE explored how Madoff became the new poster child for Wall Street gall, greed and corruption.

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Through exclusive television interviews with those closest to Madoff's operation, veteran FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith and producer Marcela Gaviria unearthed the details of the world's first global Ponzi scheme — a deception that lasted longer, reached wider and cut deeper than any other business scandal in history — in The Madoff Affair.

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