ABC Mini-Series ‘Madoff’ Begins Filming in NYC

Madoff, an upcoming ABC mini-series starring Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner as infamous Ponzi scheme villains Bernie and Ruth Madoff, began filming on location this week in New York City.

The new series is inspired by ABC News chief executive correspondent Brian Ross’s book The Madoff Chronicles: Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth.

Bernie Madoff founded Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960 and was arrested in December 2008 after his sons alerted authorities that their father confessed his multi-billion-dollar investment business was a massive Ponzi scheme and “one big lie,” according to authorities.

Madoff was immediately taken into custody and charged with one count of securities fraud.

In March 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies. He is currently serving a 150-year service at a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

According to the New York Daily News, Madoff is battling kidney cancer and had a heart attack while behind bars.

The Wall Street Journal has called Madoff’s dramatic confession, which led to his arrest the next day, “one of the biggest fraud investigations in history.”

His brother, Peter, who worked as Senior Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer at the office, is also serving a 10-year sentence, while his wife, Ruth, was not charged with a crime as federal prosecutors found no evidence conclusive to her participation or knowledge of her husband’s fraud.

Ruth was reportedly stripped of most of the family assets, but prosecutors reached a deal that allowed her to keep around $2.5 million in cash.

The series will also star Frank Whaley as financial fraud investigator Harry Markopolos, Erin Cummings as Madoff’s longtime secretary Eleanor Squillari, Tom Lipinski as Mark Madoff, who committed suicide two years after his father’s arrest, Charles Grodin as a friend of Madoff, Carl J. Shapiro as victim and benefactor, and Lewis Black as Madoff co-conspirator Ezra Merkin.

Madoff is scheduled air at the end of 2015.