NEW YORK — Disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff tells a newspaper that banks and hedge funds were "complicit" in his scheme to fleece victims out of billions of dollars.
Madoff told The New York Times in his first interview for publication since his 2008 arrest the financial institutions "were complicit in one form or another." He didn't name any institutions.
A court-appointed trustee seeking to recover money on behalf of Madoff's victims has filed a lawsuit against his primary banker, JPMorgan Chase. The bank denies any wrongdoing.
Madoff also says his family didn't know about his Ponzi scheme.
Madoff spoke to the newspaper through e-mail and during a two-hour interview at a Butner, N.C., federal prison where he's serving a 150-year sentence.
The newspaper's story was published online Tuesday.
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.