Arthur Nadel, Convicted Ponzi Schemer, Dies in Prison

Arthur Nadel, a former Florida money manager convicted of bilking hundreds of investors out of $162 million through a Ponzi scheme, died Monday in prison. He was 79.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, prison officials didn’t cite a cause of death for Nadel, who reportedly battled heart problems for years and spent the majority of his jail time in the prison’s medical center.

“Dying behind prison walls is a very hard way for anyone to leave this world,” said Mark Gombiner, Nadel’s federally appointed defender. “Arthur had a troubled life, but he took responsibility for his actions and he faced his punishment with dignity.”

Arthur Nadel was dubbed by some as the “mini Madoff” when he was arrested in 2009, about a month after convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff’s fraud came to light.

In 2010, Nadel pleaded guilty to 15 federal fraud charges and was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison. At his lawyer’s request, Nadel was sent to the same prison — Federal Correction Complex in Butner, N.C — where Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence for cheating thousands of investors out of billions of dollars. Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges in 2009.

While Federal prosecutors had initially requested a 24-year prison sentence for the fraudster, Nadel’s defense attorney sought a five-year sentence, claiming that sentencing that anything much longer would be a “death sentence.”

The Gulf Coast Business Review writes that the case to recoup money for Nadel’s victims will press onward, adding that the court appointed receiver in the case, Tampa attorney Burt Wiand, has been tracking down ill-gotten gains for more than two years.

More on Arthur Nadel’s death in the video below:

via FOX