Fraudster Madoff in hospital with serious facial injuries, broken ribs and a collapsed lung after 'falling out of prison bed'



Facial injuries: Bernard Madoff fell out of his prison bed

Disgraced financier Bernie Madoff is being treated in hospital for serious facial injuries after falling out of his prison bed.

The 71-year-old was last week moved to a medical centre within a federal prison in North Carolina for undisclosed reasons.

It was initially thought that Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence for a $65billion fraud, had been assaulted by another inmate, but it has now been reported he fell out of bed, landing on his face.

Madoff was taken to Duke University Medical Center in Durham with facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, according to ABC11 Eyewitness News.



A spokeswoman for the US Bureau of Prisons this week denied Madoff had been attacked, saying he was being treated for hypertension and dizziness.

Spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said he had been transferred to hospital on December 18, but she declined to comment on the reason, citing privacy rules.

Ira Sorkin, Madoff's attorney, confirmed his client was experiencing high blood pressure and heart palpitations.



In late August, prison officials denied a published report that Madoff had been diagnosed with cancer and was terminally ill.

The New York Post reported that Madoff had cancer and that he had told other inmates that he did not have long to live. The newspaper cited unnamed prison sources.

Madoff was treated at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina

In October it was reported that Madoff was involved in a prison-yard brawl with one of his fellow prisoners over the state of the economy,.

He was heard getting involved in an argument with another elderly prisoner about the financial markets before the disagreement turned physical.

According to eyewitnesses, it was Madoff who had the better of the fight.

After the prisoner pushed him, the fraudster was said to have shoved his attacker back even harder, making him stumble and lose his footing.

Madoff was sentenced to the maximum 150 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to orchestrating a worldwide 'Ponzi' scheme that bilked thousands of investors.



His fraud ensnared hedge funds, non-profit groups and celebrities, and devastated the life savings of thousands.



It emerged that he had orchestrated a pyramid - or Ponzi scheme, named after a 1920s fraudster - by using cash from new investors to pay higher than normal returns to existing clients.

Madoff had previously earned a reputation as a trusted money manager, who brought his clients returns even as the market fluctuated.

But late last year he made a dramatic confession - authorities say he pulled his sons aside and told them it was ‘all just one big lie’.

He pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was ‘deeply sorry and ashamed’.