This piece in Vanity Fair shows what it was like working inside the company that perpetrated that largest fraud in history. Eleanor Squilla was Madoff’s personal secretary for 24 years. She had no idea about the mega ponzi scheme and dealt with distraught clients in the immediate aftermath.
On the day of the arrest-
A big guy in a trench coat tried to rush past me into the conference room. “Excuse me, can I help you?,” I asked.
He flashed a badge in my face and barked, “F.B.I.” It was Ted Cacioppi, who, along with another agent, was about to go to Bernie’s apartment and place him under arrest. I put out my arm and barked back, “Wait right here!” He turned beet red, and I thought the veins in his neck were going to burst. But he stopped. I went into my protective mode, because we never let anyone into the office unless we knew the reason for their visit. I poked my head into the conference room, but Peter seemed oblivious. “There’s a—” was all I got out. One of the lawyers said, “Send him in. We’re expecting him.”