Notorious ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff is telling fellow inmates that he secretly stashed $9 billion of stolen funds with three people before he was arrested for fraud, according to the New York Post.

“I think it was personal friends,” one inmate told the Post from a medium-security federal prison in Butner, NC.

Frank DiPascali, Madoff’s partner in crime, not only knows who the recipients are, but suspects he is using that information to negotiate with federal authorities, the unnamed inmate told the Post.

DiPascali, 52, is reportedly trying to avoid getting nabbed with a life sentence like the 72-year-old Madoff did by cooperating with prosecutors, the Post reported.

The co-schemer awaits sentencing in jail because he is unable to post his $10 million bond. Last year, he pleaded guilty to 10 felonies in connection with Madoff’s $60 billion scheme.

Both Marc Mukasey, DiPascali’s lawyer, and the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting DiPascali, declined to comment.

The inmate also leaked that Madoff is on antidepressants in prison to relieve stress.

In his spare time, the high-profile inmate hangs out with Jonathan Pollard, who spied for Israel while working for the Navy, and New York pharmacist John Mancini, who was arrested for distributing painkillers. He plays boccie and offers business advice to drug dealers, the inmate told the Post.

(Source: DNAInfo)