Madoff Scandal's Shadow Proves Hard to Escape
Mark Madoff, son of disgraced financier Bernie Madoff, was reportedly despondent about his chances of finding another job and escaping the Madoff scandal's shadow when he hung himself Saturday.
CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason reports that Mark Madoff was not alone among those connected to the Madoff company facing that fear.
Bernie Madoff's former chauffeur, Clive Brown, said he was devastated to hear the news of Mark's passing, and that he is also struggling to find work in a post-Madoff world.
Madoff said, "'Clive, you'll always have a job with us just as long as you don't steal,'" Brown told CBS Evening News, adding that he has been jobless for two years now.
Making matters worse, former employees of Madoff got no severance when the firm closed after revelations of Bernie Madoff's giant Ponzi scheme came to light.
"We didn't get a dime," Brown said. "It was just finito ... over."
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John Kelly, who worked on the trading desk of Madoff's firm but was not connected to the Ponzi scheme, is now surviving on unemployment and foodstamps.
Kelly said he got an e-mail from a perspective employer that read: "We'll need substantial convincing why someone who worked with that worst of scoundrels should be given any consideration at all."
"To go from something you felt so proud of to feel ashamed, even though you had nothing to do with it, it's very, very tough," Kelly said.
Some former Madoff employees like Elaine Solomon have moved away to escape the negative stigma from the massive Ponzi scheme.
"I'm happy to be away from New York," said Solomon, who moved to Florida and became a real estate agent. "And I'm happy that people down here are not obsessed with Madoff."
Solomon said one of the hardest things to reconcile in the scandal's aftermath was the fact that Madoff was good to his employees.
"It was just a good place to work," Solomon said.
Many former employees fear the shadow of the Madoff scandal will be incredibly difficult to escape.
"In reality it's not part of my past," Kelly said. "It's still part of me now, because I haven't been able to find anything."
