How a Secretary Exposed Madoff's $65 Billion Fraud

Eleanor Squillari spent 25 years as Bernard Madoff's personal secretary, working in the offices that spanned the 17th, 18th, and 19th floors of a Manhattan building. She had no idea she was employed at the center of history's largest investment fraud—until December 2008, when Madoff confessed to running what he himself called "one big lie."

Directors Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek spent approximately three years following Squillari's extraordinary journey from trusted employee to FBI cooperator, resulting in the documentary "In God We Trust," which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2013. The film reveals how a woman with frontline access to Madoff's operations became instrumental in helping federal investigators understand the scope and mechanics of the scheme.

What made Squillari's position uniquely valuable was her intimate knowledge of how the fraud functioned. She worked on the 17th floor, where fake investment statements were produced monthly—the documentary evidence of a con that had operated largely undetected for years. The 18th and 19th floors housed what appeared to be a legitimate trading firm, a crucial component of the elaborate deception that fooled regulators, investors, and even some of Madoff's own family members.

After the December 10-11, 2008 confession, Squillari converted her second bedroom into what she called a "war room," a makeshift command center where she assisted the FBI investigation. This work was unpaid—she received no compensation for the countless hours spent helping federal agents piece together the intricate web of lies that had defrauded approximately $65 billion from investors globally. Her contributions proved invaluable in establishing the full scope of the scheme and the mechanisms Madoff had used to maintain it.

The documentary presents a complex portrait of the scandal that challenges simple narratives. In particular, it examines the roles of Madoff's sons, Mark and Andrew, who reported their father to authorities. Rather than condemning them, the film suggests their innocence and positions them as whistleblowers who ultimately helped bring the scheme to light—though their involvement remains a point of historical debate.