Ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff's death certificate reveals he died of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease - and still lists the $64-billion-scammer's occupation as 'broker'

  • Madoff died in prison in Butner, North Carolina on April 14, at the age of 82 
  • He pleaded guilty to 11 felonies in 2009 and was sentenced to 150 years
  • Prosecutors estimating he defrauded around $65 billion from his clients 
  • Madoff never showed any remorse and felt his victims were 'greedy' 

Bernie Madoff's cause of death was kidney disease and hypertension, according to his death certificate.

The 82-year-old died on April 14 inside Butner prison in North Carolina.

He had been sentenced to 150 years in July 2009, and served his entire sentence at the prison, with fellow inmates including Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard and mob boss Carmine Persico.

Madoff's death certificate, obtained by TMZ, also listed his profession a 'real/estate broker' - the job he famously exited in disgrace. 

Bernie Madoff is seen in March 2009, leaving court. He was sentenced to 150 years. His cause of death was revealed on Friday

Bernie Madoff is seen in March 2009, leaving court. He was sentenced to 150 years. His cause of death was revealed on Friday

Madoff, seen in 2003, died on April 14 at the age of 82. He died of hypertension, heart disease and kidney failure

Madoff, seen in 2003, died on April 14 at the age of 82. He died of hypertension, heart disease and kidney failure 

He had requested compassionate release, given his poor health, but was denied.

His body was cremated inside the prison. 

Madoff robbed victims 37,000 victims in 136 countries of $64.8 billion, taking one's money to pay off the other, for two decades before finally being arrested in 2008 after his two adult sons turned him in. 

He never showed any remorse, and described his victims as 'greedy', according to New York Magazine

Many of his victims came from the Jewish community where Madoff had been a major philanthropist. 

Bernie and Ruth Madoff in Palm Beach, Florida, before his 2008 arrest. Madoff died aged 82 in prison on Wednesday

Bernie and Ruth Madoff in Palm Beach, Florida, before his 2008 arrest. Madoff died aged 82 in prison on Wednesday 

His wife, Ruth, 79, is living is Connecticut but has been seen recently in Palm Beach, Florida, where Bernie's younger brother Peter also lives with his wife Marion.    

His adult sons Mark and Andrew turned him in to the authorities after he confessed to them that the investment firm he was running was a Ponzi scheme and 'one big lie'. 

Mark stopped speaking to him and hanged himself in 2010, on the second anniversary of his father's arrest. 

He was so ashamed of his father that he couldn't live with the guilt of his crimes anymore. 

Andrew died from lymphoma in 2014. 

He had beaten cancer once but it returned in 2011, after Bernie's arrest. He blamed his father for his deteriorating health. 

Ruth claimed to have cut Bernie off but journalist Jim Campbell, who had unfettered access to her for years, revealed to DailyMail.com that Bernie was still writing to her from prison when he died.  

Campbell said he did not believe she would ever 'completely uncouple' from him. 

Before he was jailed, she made a deal with prosecutors to that she'd be allowed $2.5million to pay for his legal fees. 

She has since reached a settlement with a small group of some of his tens of thousands of victims to pay them $600,000.  

Bernie and Ruth Madoff with their sons Andrew and Mark. Andrew died of cancer in 2014, with Mark killing himself in 2010

Bernie and Ruth Madoff with their sons Andrew and Mark. Andrew died of cancer in 2014, with Mark killing himself in 2010 

Among Madoff's  victims was Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, whose foundation lost $15.2 million.  

'The pain experienced by the victims of Mr. Madoff’s fraud is not diminished by his death, nor is our work on behalf of his victims finished,' said Irving Picard, a lawyer appointed as a trustee of the compensation fund. 

'My legal team and I are committed to continuing to identify and recover Mr. Madoff’s stolen funds and return them to their rightful owners.' 

Another former investor who did not want to be named told The Philadelphia Inquirer: 'One less thief in the world.' 

Loretta Weinberg, New Jersey's Senate Majority Leader who lost money with Madoff along with her late husband Irwin, had a stronger reaction.  

'I'm not saying kaddish. That's my reaction,' she told NJ.com. Kaddish is a Jewish mourning prayer. 

She added: 'I continued living my life in a much more productive manner than he has. 

'His death didn't provide any sense of closure. I haven’t thought about him very much over the last number of years unless someone from the media called me. I didn’t need him to die for a sense of closure.'  

lene Kent, the daughter of a Long Island doctor who lost his life savings, told The New York Post: 'The fact that he suffered at the end is almost poetic justice for the suffering he inflicted. I can’t say I’m shedding a tear.' 

Another couple who lost their retirement savings with Madoff said they blamed the government for not monitoring Madoff or the industry more closely.

'When you lose your whole life savings, it doesn't matter if it's a dollar or $1 trillion. You just lost everything you worked for your whole life. That was our future. That's what we based many life decisions on what is our fiscal responsibility. We were invested with an icon of Wall Street,' Ronnie Sue Ambrosino told Long Island News. 

'We felt we were insured. And all of that fell through. The government was not there. They didn't live up to their responsibility. And that's where we find fault,' she added.

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.