(RTTNews) -  Reports surfaced Monday that Bernard Madoff, perpetrator of the largest ponzi scheme in history, is dying of cancer at a federal prison in North Carolina.

Sources told the New York Post, and later the Wall Street Journal, that the 71-year-old is taking 20 pills a day to treat his cancer and has told other inmates that he does not have long to live. The sources have not said what type of cancer Madoff has.

Lawyers for Madoff have not yet responded to the reports, although they earlier declined to respond to questions on the matter when speculation arose earlier this year that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer. His wife, Ruth, has also declined to answer questions regarding the matter.
Madoff is currently serving a 150-year sentence in Butner, N.C., for swindling $65 billion from thousands of investors. He pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges in March and was sentenced in June.

It has been reported that the former financier is currently attending weekly "Native American religious purification ceremonies" that involve using hot rocks to induce sweat and smoking a ceremonial pipe. Apparently, Madoff is also being recruited by various prison "gangs," and some prisoners have been cooking him sandwiches in their cells.

After the reports of Madoff's cancer surfaced Monday, the Bureau of Prisons issued a statement that said the Post's story was "inaccurate," although they did not specify exactly what was inaccurate in the article.

by RTT Staff Writer

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