Bernie Madoff, who is jailed in the United States for perpetrating the world's largest fraud, is terminally ill and wants to leave prison to die, his attorney said Wednesday, according to AFP.
Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2009 of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that saw investors bilked out of an estimated $65 billion.
In a letter to a US federal judge, attorney Brandon Sample petitioned for his early release, saying Madoff suffers from "terminal kidney disease, among other serious medical conditions."
"The Bureau of Prisons concluded in September 2019 that Madoff has less than 18 months to live because of the terminal nature of his kidney failure," Sample wrote.
The Washington Post reported that Madoff needs a wheelchair and 24-hour care, and is asking for compassionate release so he can mend fences with his grandchildren and die at home.
"I've served 11 years already, and, quite frankly, I've suffered through it," Madoff told the paper in an interview.
"You know, there hasn't been a day in prison that I haven't felt the guilt for the pain I caused on the victims and for my family," he said.
The Post said the Bureau of Prisons rejected Madoff's petition for compassionate release in December, with a lawyer for the federal agency saying "in light of the nature and circumstances of his offense, his release at this time would minimize the severity of his offense."
Madoff remained an advisor to a multitude of stars and well-connected members of the American-Jewish community, right up until his arrest in December 2008 and the collapse of his scheme.
A pyramid, or Ponzi, scheme is a form of fraud in which returns on investments are generated only by bringing in fresh investments from new victims. Cash from new clients is used to pay existing clients until the scheme eventually collapses.
Madoff's fraud was revealed during the financial crisis in 2008 when he was unable to satisfy growing client demands to withdraw their investments, and many lost their savings or were unable to retire.
Last year, Madoff asked President Donald Trump to commute his sentence.