Bernie Madoff suspected victim of prison assault

Disgraced financier and ponzi swindler Bernie Madoff has been hospitalized at Duke University for serious injuries consistent with an assault, ABC is reporting.

Madoff, 71, was treated for facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung on Tuesday. Officials at Butner federal prison refused to confirm the report, but Butner spokesperson Cathy Elsea admitted that Madoff had been hopsitalized within the prison. Elsea refused to elaborate on the move to the prison wing:

“The potential reasons for an inmate to transfer are numerous,” Elsea told ABC News, “and we do not release those specific reasons.”

Madoff’s scheme collapsed last year in early December, and his arrest came a day after he told his sons that his entire business was a “big lie.” He has been incarcerated since July at Butner, a prison described as “one of the crown jewels of the federal prison system” and as being reminiscent of a college campus. White collar criminals are often sent to the facility, but Madoff’s fellow inmates also include a Colombo crime family boss and the man behind the 1993 WTC bombing.