Bernie Madoff’s other little secret

It seems that Bernie Madoff had other secrets than the epic fraud he perpetrated over several decades. A new book by one of the investors he ripped off, Sheryl Weinstein, alleges that he also had an affair with her for 20 years, without the knowledge of either of their spouses.

Weinstein appeared in court against Madoff in June this year, giving evidence that helped send the 71-year-old to prison with a 150-year sentence. She called him "that terror, that monster, that horror, that beast... an equal-opportunity destroyer", but made no mention of her personal relationship with him.

She told the court how her financial losses had put a severe strain on her 37-year marriage, but it now seems that the two-decade affair she alleges in Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie and Me can't have helped either.

Peter Chavkin, an attorney for Madoff's wife Ruth, said his client had no knowledge of the relationship and seized the opportunity to try to quell persistent rumours that she must have known he was a fraudster, something she has always denied. He said the alleged affair showed that: "There are some things that some spouses - however close they are - do not share with each other."

Madoff's lawyer, meanwhile, said he hoped that Weinstein was "was more discreet with her investment obligations than she has allegedly been with her sex life."

Weinstein met Madoff, on what she called in court "the unluckiest day of my life", through her work as chief financial officer for a Zionist women’s charity, Hadassah, which could now become a target for Madoff's creditors as it is said to have received around $130m from his fraudulent Ponzi scheme. ·