Madoff HQ Was 'Coke-Fueled Animal House'

Bernie Madoff ran the druggiest, most decadent securities fraud in town, according to court papers filed yesterday. Madoff's offices were so awash in cocaine—paid for with investors' money—that it was nicknamed "the North Pole," and the firm hosted drug-fueled parties featuring topless waitresses, according to a lawsuit filed by swindled investors. Nuggets about Madoff's precipitous fall from the high life are tucked throughout the 276-page document seeking restitution from Madoff, family members and other financial entities who knew bout the scam, according to the suit.

The suit contrasts Madoff's luxurious former lifestyle with his somewhat drabber present-day existence. Madoff shares a cell with a 21-year-old drug offender and eats pizza cooked by a child molester, the New York Daily News reports. His jailhouse pals include mob boss Carmine Persico and convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, according to the lawsuit, which cites several interviews with unspecified sources.
(More Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities stories.)