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Funny Business
Text Size 
It was time to be outed.
The man behind the fake Bernie Madoff blog agreed to let me be the one.
The real Fake Bernie is Jay Berkman, a marketing and PR consultant who lives in Westport, Connecticut.
Wait 'til you hear his story.
Berkman started posing online as Madoff December 15th, shortly after finding out that his father, a Florida retiree, had lost "a significant amount" of money in the alleged Ponzi scheme. "It was an emotional event, and that sort of drove me to try and do something creative about it." He vented that emotion by creating a caricature of Madoff and starting a blog, much like Dan Lyons created Fake Steve Jobs.
The Fake Bernie blog has borne unexpected results. At first, many people thought the REAL Madoff was writing it. "I got some reasonably testy questions that were sent through the 'Ask Bernie a Question'." Berkman's also heard from people who claim to work for Madoff Securities, "and some of them aren't terribly happy about the blog." He doesn't know if Madoff himself has read the blog, but Berkman's penchant for creative mischief has even led him to create a fake JDate profile for Madoff's divorced son, Andrew.
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Jdate.com |
The blog has also brought him some scoops. "I was actually contacted by a guy who sold two $1,800 defibrillators to Bernie's wife." He turned that into a fake post where "Bernie" explains that "Ruth" bought two defibs thinking they would juice up their sex lives, but even after she found out their true use, she wouldn't return them "because she doesn't return anything."
Berkman has drawn quite a following, especially on Wall Street.
Even the feds have been logging on.
Yet while Berkman calls Madoff "sociopathic", he doubts the real losses from the alleged fraud are anywhere near $50 billion. "We don't know what Bernie Madoff said in the privacy of his home to an FBI agent, regardless of whatever affidavit was filed...There's a distinction between real dollars and Bernie dollars." He says many of the reported losses are really from paper profits which never existed.
THE REST OF THE STORY!!
His insight into the details of the case startles some. "People have said, 'Who are you? How do you know so much? Where are you getting this information?'"
Well, naturally he knows quite a bit from his father. But this story is much more complex than that.
Turns out Berkman worked on Wall Street for more than two decades, first as a floor trader, eventually trading options, and then moving into marketing and business development.
He left seven years ago. Why? Now things get very interesting.
He pleaded guilty to bank fraud in a weird, unrelated, series of transactions involving the financing of the movie "The Devil and Daniel Webster." He says he was "an unwitting participant. I made a mistake, and I admitted to a mistake and I've repurposed my life." All this, plus past experience in a business investigating insurance fraud, gives Berkman a unique perspective in parodying Madoff. "There are a number of people who think that I'm more than qualified in understanding fraud situations and how to investigate them and the mindset of the people."
(*NOTE THIS UPDATE & CORRECTION: Berkman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, not bank fraud.*)
Currently he has several business ventures including a hand sanitizer called "Soapopular". Customers include correctional facilities. Oh, the irony! Perhaps one day, if Madoff is found guilty, he will be forced to use a prison hand sanitizer marketed by the son of one of his victims. Meantime, Berkman and his brother are thinking of starting a joint venture to raise capital to put their parents on the professional bridge tour, hoping to entice investors, "because they have a significant tax loss carry forward for several years." It's a joke, people.
Why is Berkman going public now?
Because he'd like to leverage the blog into something more profitable. Though he is starting to make money on the Fake Bernie website, he'd like to get it linked to a bigger website. He says he's gotten some interest in possibly writing a parody novel as Fake Bernie. "My family suffered a significant financial loss, and I need to work."
Here's more of my interview with Jay Berkman, aka Fake Bernie, as he talks about the blog, Madoff, the pro bridge tour plans, and the snuff film he proposed.
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