An accountant who publicly blamed imprisoned con man Bernard Madoff for stealing her family’s savings has written a book that will disclose that they once had an extramarital affair.
Sheryl Weinstein’s account, “Madoff’s Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me,” will be published Aug. 25.
In addition to details of the affair, the book will include photographs and some intimate descriptions of Madoff, said John Murphy, spokesman for her publisher, St. Martin’s.
Weinstein, 60, has denounced Madoff publicly at least four times this year, including at the June 29 court hearing where he was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison for masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
Weinstein told the judge she met Madoff 21 years ago when she was chief financial officer at Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization.
“I now view that day as perhaps the unluckiest day of my life because of the many events set into motion that would eventually have the most profound and devastating effect on me, my husband, my child, my parents, my in-laws and all of those who depended on us,” Weinstein said at the hearing.
Weinstein and her husband of 37 years, Ronald, were forced to sell their Upper East Side home because they had “lost everything,” she told the judge.
Weinstein did not immediately return a call or e-mail seeking comment.
“She’s entitled to her free speech, I suppose,” said Ira Sorkin, a lawyer for Madoff. “Why one would go public with something like that, I don’t know.”
Peter Chavkin, a lawyer for Ruth Madoff, didn’t immediately return a call or e-mail seeking comment.