(Image source: The New York Times)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

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In his first interview since his arrest in 2008 - convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff accuses banks and hedge funds of - quote - “willful blindness.”

Madoff told The New York Times’ Diana Henriques: “They had to know. … But the attitude was sort of, ‘If you’re doing something wrong, we don’t want to know.’”

The disgraced financier has pointed to thus far unnamed banks’ failures to raise questions about discrepancies in his regulatory filings.

“Convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff is pointing fingers.” (Bloomberg)

Pointing fingers? Or providing the smoking gun?

In 2009 - TIME Magazine was among many who asked - where was JP Morgan Chase?

In the interview - Madoff told the Times he’d met with Irving Picard -- the trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff’s former investment firm. MSNBC reports -- Picard denies that meeting.

“Madoff says he gave Picard - quote - ‘information I knew would be instrumental in recovering assets from those people complicit in the mess I put myself into.’ Picard filed lawsuits on behalf of Madoff victims seeking hundreds of millions in allegedly elicit profits from JP Morgan Chase and even from the owners of the New York Mets. Both denied ever suspecting fraud. ... So far, only Madoff has gone to prison, and only he, his accountant, and five of his employees have been charged with crimes.”

Madoff kept a multi-million dollar account with the bank - which he used to move money between U.S. and London operations. So does Madoff’s charge of banks’ “willful blindness” actually deflect any responsibility? TIME revisits -- and says -- not really.

“[Madoff is] not really a credible witness. ... And my sense is that a jury would immediately think that he was just trying to shift the blame or at least have someone else share in the blame for the fraud with him, as long as that someone isn't a family member.”

But a Politically Illustrated blog suggests -- Madoff IS something of a fall boy. And that might not be completely fair.

“He hurt so many individuals ... but he’s being used by the banks and the media to show something was done to combat greed. Why is he the only person jailed for the economic crisis?”

Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina prison. 

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