!['That would’ve been tough, but I, I would have left [him].' —Ruth Madoff](https://vip.nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/08/31-1n004-madoff2-c-ta-300x300.jpg?w=300)
‘That would’ve been tough, but I, I would have left [him].’ —Ruth Madoff (AP/60 Minutes)
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The son of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff claims his dad used him as a “human shield.”
With 20-20 hindsight, son Andrew Madoff, who ran the legitimate end of the family business, said it’s obvious Bernie brought prospective clients to the son’s 19th-floor office so potential marks could see real trades being executed.
Two floors below, Bernie was pulling off the greatest swindle of all time.
“It was one of the hardest things to, to come to grips with, in trying to get my head around this, was that feeling that I had been used — almost as, as a human shield by him,” Andrew Madoff told “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired last night.
“It’s unforgivable. No, no father should do that to their sons.”
Andrew’s mom, Ruth, 70, knows she’ll never be able to live down the Madoff name.
“I feel the shame,’’ she told the CBS program.
“I can barely walk down the street without worrying about people recognizing me.”
Madoff’s loved ones insist they had no clue about the scheme that’s landed their old man in prison for 150 years.
Andrew said he should have known something was rotten on Wall Street because his dad never discussed succession.
“His plan was that he had no plan,” said Andrew, 45, hyping his book, “Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family,” which hits shelves today.
“And he would say that when he dies, his end of the business dies.
“And again, it was always the, the same response: ‘That’s the way it is, and it’s not going to change.’”
Despite her claims of ignorance, Ruth confessed she might not have dropped a dime on Bernie had she learned of the scheme earlier.
“That would’ve been tough, but I, I would have left [him],” she said.
“Whether I’d turn him in or not, I don’t know. I like to think I would have, but I, I, I couldn’t say. I’m being completely honest with you, I have to say.”
Andrew said he’ll never speak to his dad again:
“What he did to me, to my brother, and to my family is unforgivable.
“What he did to thousands of other people, destroyed their lives, I’ll never understand it.
“And I’ll never forgive him for it. And I’ll never speak to him again.”