Madoff's Palm Beach Victims: "Our 9/11"
Hidden among the palm trees and perfect lawns of Palm Beach is the fallout from a financial hurricane. The chic Florida getaway was hit by Hurricane Bernie (Madoff, that is) on Dec. 11, 2008, when the fraudulent money manager was arrested reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports.
Gerald and Renee Blumenthal lost their entire retirement, $4 million. They have to sell their home.
"December 11 was our 9/11, our personal 9/11," said Gerald Blumenthal.
Both Blumenthals, who are in their 70s, are looking for work. Their children lost their savings; their grandchildren, money for college.
"They tell us, 'Don't worry about us, we'll get summer jobs, we'll get after school jobs,'" said Renee Blumenthal. "And they have."
"It's hard to believe. It's a shocking disappointment," Gerald Blumenthal added.
They're among as many as 1,000 people deceived by a man who lived and partied beside them.
"This is the epicenter of it," said Larry Leamer, who writes about Palm Beach society. He said investing with Madoff was the ultimate sign of status.
"There was a club within the club and that was the club in this country club that invested with Bernie Madoff," Leamer said. "If you're not with him, you're a loser."
Today, million dollar homes are quietly going on the market. So are the items from inside those homes - at estate sales.
List of Bernie Madoff's Clients
You wouldn't know it strolling by the glitzy stores and exclusive restaurants in palm beach, but the impact of the Madoff scandal goes beyond the bank accounts of a few hundred millionaires.
A local non-profit health center for seniors lost $10 million investing with Madoff. And the Palm Beach County School district is out $1 million because a donor can no longer afford the donation.
"This is not just a bunch of spoiled rich people who can't have their bottle of champagne that day. these are conservative, philanthropic, giving people," said Susan Markin, a former Palm Beach council member as well as a Madoff neighbor and victim.
Asked what she thinks should happen to Madoff, Markin replied, "I can't say it on camera."
Madoff's Florida home has been vandalized twice since his arrest - an abundance of anger in this land of plenty.