Former Fort Lauderdale "philanthropist" and Bernie Madoff money man Michael Bienes gave an interview to the PBS investigative news show Frontline, and it looks to be a doozy. Here's a snippet:
In it Bienes, who was a member of the Broward arts board and has his name on plaques all over town (including Holy Cross Hospital and St. Thomas Aquinas High), tells Frontline correspondent Martin Smith that he never worked hard for his millions and that his association with Madoff was like a "money machine." Why did he have such an easy ride? "God wanted us to have this," he says he and wife determined. "God gave us this."
The full show, which digs deep into Madoff's Broward County connections, will air on May 12 on PBS. I'm told I'll make an appearance or two in it (Smith interviewed me after I broke some ground on Bienes and his partner Frank Avellino locally), but I strongly encourage you to check it out in spite of that.
