U.S.: Bernie Madoff not dying of cancer

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Jailed financier Bernie Madoff does not have cancer and is not terminally ill as one newspaper reports, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Monday.

Madoff, 71, is serving 150 years at a prison in Butner, N.C., for swindling more than $65 billion from clients in an enormous Ponzi scheme.

Earlier, the New York Post exclusively reported inmates at the prison said Madoff talks openly about his alleged illness and participates in American Indian purification ceremonies held at a "sweat lodge" on the prison grounds.

"He's been taking about 20 pills a day for his cancer," one inmate told the Post. "He talks about it all the time. He's not doing very well."

The New York Times said prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley released a statement knocking down the story:

"While the N.Y. Post story is full of inaccuracies, and we can't specifically address all of them, we can tell you that Bernie Madoff is not terminally ill, and has not been diagnosed with cancer."