Ruth Madoff, the wife of history's biggest fraudster, still devoted to the monster

Enjoying the high life: Bernie and Ruth Madoff before he was jailed for 150 years after committing the largest financial fraud in history

Few could blame this tiny 70-year-old woman for turning to the bottle for fleeting comfort. Three years ago, she was vilified around the world for standing by her husband, Bernie Madoff, who was jailed for 150 years after committing the largest financial fraud in history.

Afterwards, both her sons refused to see her. Far worse, her elder son, Mark, hanged himself on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest, leaving four fatherless children.

Even now, Ruth is forbidden from contacting two of her grandchildren. Meanwhile, she’s lost her $7million yacht and her four multi-million-pound homes — in Manhattan, Long Island, the Cote d’Azur and Palm Beach, Florida — all auctioned off to compensate victims.

She’s also lost all her former friends, many of whom are now destitute after investing their life savings and pensions with Bernie.

The Madoffs with their son Mark in November 2001. Unable to cope with the aftermath of his father's public downfall, he killed himself on the second anniversary of his arrest

With only a meagre income of her own, Ruth lives in a perpetual state of financial terror. She’s afraid of falling ill because she can’t afford medical insurance; she frets about wearing out her shoes, complaining that it’s hard to find a new pair for less than $35.

Above all, she’s terrified of being recognised. Having moved to southern Florida, where many of Bernie’s victims live, she knows that every time she steps outside the door, she risks being yelled at or assaulted.

Nonetheless, she manages to deliver food twice a week to the elderly and infirm through Meals On Wheels. On her other free days, she volunteers at a school in a blue-collar neighbourhood, helping out in the classroom. But she uses her maiden name and dreads her colleagues discovering who she is.

One of the most difficult things for Ruth to deal with, says her remaining son, Andrew, 45, has been the searing hatred of the public, since she was always so well-liked. It was one of her defining qualities, at the very core of her identity.

Not now. Until she dies, people will still ask: how could she not have known? How could she live with a man for 49 years and not have an inkling that he was systematically defrauding his clients on a colossal scale?

And how could her sons — who had worked all their lives at Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities — have failed to suspect that something was horribly wrong?

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