It was an inconceivable deception: over $65 billion stolen in the world's largest Ponzi scheme. With new and revealing interviews with those who worked closest to him and his family, Betrayal is an in-depth, penetrating look at the man who perpetrated history's most notorious financial crime. Despite the crush of media attention on Madoff's scam, little is known about Madoff himself. What could lead a seemingly good man to ruin the lives of everyone who ever cared about him? What caused Bernie Madoff to commit an unspeakable act of betrayal, bankrupting his family, his friends, his mentors, and thousands of investors who depended upon him for their livelihoods? Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff is about the man who realised that he could have everything he wanted if he simply lied to the people who trusted him the most. Author Andrew Kirtzman tracked down more than a hundred people from Madoff's past, poured over thousands of pages of court records; private e-mails; phone-conversation transcripts; and, census, military, and immigration records. The result is a fascinating story about the rise of a deeply immoral man.