October 27, 2009 6:00 AM

Trick or Thief: Bernie Madoff Halloween Masks Flying Off Shelves

By
Ryan Smith
Topics
Daily Blotter
(AP)
Bernard Madoff Mask

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Devils, sinners and swindlers, oh my!

You probably won't see anything quite as scary this Halloween as the thousands of masks of public enemy number one, Bernard Madoff.

Madoff, who's not exactly UNICEF's best friend, made off with investors' billions in a terrifying true-life Ponzi scheme that ultimately landed him behind bars with a 150-year prison term.

After covering up the scam for decades, now the trick is definitely on him -- Madoff masks are top sellers in stores and on costume-dealing Web sites.

One firm that makes a rubber Madoff mask, Rubie's Costume Company, has distributed more than 15,000 of them to stores across the U.S.

(CBS/iStockphoto)
Bernard Madoff

While the new "King Con" is doing big business this Halloween season, Rubie's exec Howard Beige predicts that Bernie Madoff still won't be the top seller this year. That distinction, he says, will go to the original "Thriller," Michael Jackson.

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