Who else watched the ABC miniseries about Bernie Madoff? Following the conclusion of the series, ABC aired a news follow-up on what has happened to Ruth Madoff, their sons, and some of the key employees of Madoff's company since he was convicted.
And, oh my, one of the final lines was, "Now Ruth Madoff spends time at the public library and with her grandchildren." She was allowed to keep $2.5 million of their massive fortune and now lives in Connecticut. They posted pictures of her pushing a grocery cart to load her own Prius.
I know the fall from Upper East Side to her life now is long and steep, but she's hardly living hand to mouth. I thought the comments about the "public library" were hilarious. Give me $2.5 mil, a Prius, and a great public library and I'd be over the moon!
I am not totally cold about the suffering that has befallen other members of the family, however. The fact that her only two children have since died (one of cancer, the other of suicide) and that they left children and spouses behind is tragic. By all accounts, the sons worked for a legitimate arm of Madoff's business and were not aware of his illegal activities and eventually turned him in when they became aware. There were a lot of victims in this situation.