Madoff suckered longtime friend

Just 10 days before his arrest, Bernard Madoff received $250 million from a financial backer in an apparent bid to raise cash and prevent the collapse of his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. He was arrested Dec. 11 after confessing to defrauding investors in the firm by running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, federal authorities said. The funds came from 95-year-old Palm Beach, Fla., philanthropist and entrepreneur Carl Shapiro, an old friend of Mr. Madoff’s as well as a large financial backer, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. It isn't clear whether the amount was a loan or an investment, though people familiar with the matter said that Mr. Shapiro expected to be paid back with interest or with capital gains. He has lost an estimated $400 million as a result of the fraud, including the $250 million. In addition, Mr. Shapiro’s charitable organization lost an estimated $100 million.