Mar 12, 2009 7:48 pm US/Eastern
Justice: Madoff Victims Set Calendars For June 16
Investors, Neighbors Burned By Disgraced Financier Await Sentencing After Guilty Pleas
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff passes a police barricade as he arrives at court on March 12, 2009, in New York City.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Bernard L. Madoff leaves Federal Court Jan. 14, 2009, after a hearing regarding his bail in New York.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
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Financier Bernard Madoff arrives at Manhattan Federal court on March 12, 2009, in New York City.
Stephen Chernin/Getty Images
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Financier Bernard Madoff arrives at Manhattan Federal court on March 12, 2009, in New York City.
Stephen Chernin/Getty Images
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Financier Bernard Madoff arrives at Manhattan Federal court on March 12, 2009, in New York City.
Stephen Chernin/Getty Images
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Bernard Madoff, center, enters a courthouse in lower Manhattan on March 12, 2009.
CBS
Where's the money?
That's the question many of Bernard Madoff's victims want answered immediately.
For starters, many of Madoff's bilked investors lined up outside the courthouse just to see his face.
They arrived early Thursday morning, eager to catch a glimpse of the man who drained their retirement accounts – and their hopes for the future.
"I lost my entire savings," victim Helen Chaitman said.
That's what life is like now for Chaitman and other defrauded victims of Bernie Madoff.
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"It's important to see the man who did this to me," Chaitman says.
That meant showing up on a cold morning outside the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan – to look for justice, and a way to get over years of financial betrayal.
You could see the line of victims down in the lobby of the big courthouse – both rich and middle class – a little bit of everything united by a massive larceny.
"You've got doctors, you've got lawyers, you've got physical therapists, you've got blue collar workers, glazers, truck drivers//teachers, retirees; it's really a microcosm of America," said Eileen Kent, one of Madoff's victims.
It seemed as if they all had something to say, and not just to the media, but to the man who caused this misery.
"Justice means that Mr. Madoff goes right to jail, and stays there for the rest of his life," Chaitman said. "It's hard to understand how anyone could do this to people who are close friends."
Richard Friedman said three generations of his family put their faith and millions of dollars into Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme, which masqueraded as a legitimate investment opportunity.
"It's not just the $3 million that I lost, it's my mother with moderate Alzheimer's who still thinks she's wealthy, who lost about $10 million and I take care of her. We have a caregiver. I depend on social security," said Richard Friedman, one of the victims.
"Every waking moment of the day is spent thinking about the loss," Friedman added. "It's a nightmare that will never end."
For the folks who gathered to get their first glimpse of the man who ruined them, Madoff's plea sounded hollow and incomplete. Some victim advocates say we needed a trial to get the full truth out in the open.
"Where is the money? How did Madoff get away with this over all of these years? Just putting him in jail at this point is not going satisfy the need of the victims to know or the public to know," said author Gerald Strober.
Former hedge fund employee Walter Manyke was at the hearing, admitting his hedge fund invested its clients in Madoff's scheme, unknowing that their chance for wealth never even existed.
"Bernie Madoff should rot in hell," Mayke said.
In the meantime, dreams of retirement are dreams deferred for thousands.
"I have fantasies of retiring within 10 years," Chaitman says. Now all she can think about is justice for the man who stole that dream from her.
Hilda Hauser, a 92-year-old victim, said the justice she fantasizes about is a little more personal.
"I think I'd love to kill him," Hauser said. "Of course I'm that angry. I'm outraged."
CBS 2's Lou Young, Jay Dow, and Deborah Garcia contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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