Ralph Z. Madoff, now deceased, was Bernard Madoff's father. He was known as "Zorro" and was a plumber before becoming a stockbroker. He was married to Sylvia R. Madoff, and they had two sons, Bernard Lawrence Madoff (Bernie), born in 1938 and Peter Barnett Madoff born in 1946. Both children worked in the financial investment industry. The family's investment business was investigated for impropriety and closed. They lived in Queens and practiced Judaism. A fourth high-school classmate of Bernard Madoff, Ed Heiberger, recalled that it was Ralph Madoff who "was either a stockbroker or a customer's man" (the latter is the equivalent of a client or account representative). In later years, he gave advice to William Nasi, Bernie Madoff's personal messenger who drove with Ralph a couple times a week:
"Never, ever, ever invest on Wall Street. It is run by crooks, and SOBs . I don’t trust them. Put your own money in a savings bank and you control it yourself. A dollar is worth a dollar. Don’t let greed get into your psyche.”
|
