Fraudster Bernard Madoff and wife 'attempted suicide'

bbc

The wife of jailed US financial swindler Bernard Madoff has said the couple attempted suicide after his $65bn (£41bn) fraud scheme was exposed.

Ruth Madoff told the CBS programme 60 Minutes the couple took a "bunch of pills" on Christmas Eve in 2008.

"I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening," she said.

Madoff is serving a 150-year jail sentence after being convicted in 2009.

Ruth Madoff told CBS that the couple had made the suicide pact on Christmas Eve, which - she continued - added to "the whole depression".

"I took what we had, he took more," she said, adding that she did not drink any alcohol with them for fear of vomiting.