Ponzi king Madoff not dying of cancer, clarifies US Bureau of Prisons

NEW YORK: The US Bureau of Prisons has denied reports that the multi-billion Ponzi king Bernard Madoff is dying of cancer.

On Monday, newspaper reports had suggested that Wall Street's biggest fraudster is terminally ill.

Newspaper reports suggested that Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years in jail in June after pleading guilty to orchestrating a 65-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, is suffering from terminal cancer, specifically pancreatic cancer.

But the US Bureau of Prisons (BoP), not known for commenting on the health of prisoners, took the surprise step of denying the reports, saying that there were "inaccurate" and that Madoff is not "terminally ill" and "not been diagnosed with cancer."

The BoP said that it could not provide more details until given permission by Madoff himself, and said that he remains at Butner prison in North Carolina.

Madoff, who confessed to masterminding the world's biggest Ponzi scheme, is reported to have told his fellow inmates in a North Carolina prison that he may not live for too long, and could be dying of cancer.

According to the New York Post, Madoff, who swindled over 65 billion dollars, has been taking about 20 pills a day for his cancer.

"He talks about it all the time. He's not doing very well," one inmate was quoted, as saying.

The prisoners did not confirm that's the form of cancer he's suffering.

His lawyer did not return messages yesterday, but when previously asked by The Post, would neither confirm nor deny his client has cancer. A lawyer for his wife, Ruth, also did not return messages.