If there's one figure who symbolizes the greed and excess of last year's financial crisis, it's Bernie Madoff. Nearly one year to the day since the financial world was rocked by news of the Madoff scandal, FRONTLINE goes behind the scenes in The Madoff Affair to unravel the story behind the world's first truly global Ponzi scheme -- a scheme that even Madoff has admitted was "one big lie." For nearly two decades, Madoff managed to evade regulators, investigators and skeptical investors who wondered how Madoff's investment firm could produce such steady returns in good times and bad.

On Tuesday, December 8 at 9:00pm EST find out from FRONTLINE producers Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria how Madoff managed to prolong a deception that "lasted longer, reached wider and cut deeper than any other business scandal in history."

[image: The Madoff Affair via FRONTLINE]