LAKE WORTH, FL -- The man who ran what's being called the scam of the century will was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison. Part-time Palm Beacher Bernie Madoff admitted running a Ponzi scheme, stealing an estimated $50 billion dollars.
He's left thousands of investors financially broken.
Iris and Joel Sandberg of suburban Lake Worth, lost everything they invested with Madoff and are now forced to put their house up for sale to help pay the bills.
"We are budgeting every aspect of our lives, the food we purchase, no entertainment, no vacations," said Iris Sandberg.
For the Sandbergs, it all started with a brochure they received in 1992 from Madoff's investment company. She says they were conscientious investors, tracking every slip of paper Madoff's company sent them. They were meticulous, they checked into their investments.
"We spoke to cpa's, my deceased father-in-law, my father, other accountants, financial advisers and attorneys. Some were quite familiar with the Bernard Madoff investments, others were not. They sent up no red flags. We had no indication of any red flags," she said. "We thought we never had to worry. We worked very hard, we're definitely not children of privilege."
Now she worries, like so many of the other Madoff victims in the largest fraud scheme in U.S. history.
What would she say if she could speak at Madoff's sentencing?
"I'd say Mr. Madoff you were given a gift by God of an intellect that allowed you to specialize in the financial field. You gained the trust of people because of your ability and you squandered that ability to cause hardship to people all over the world and the community you presumably support, that is really evil."
When Madoff heads off to prison, she, like so many others, is left to pick up the financial wreckage.
"It has essentially ended any hopes we had in the future of my husband and I retiring," she said.
