Mistress: Madoff 'took everything'

NEW YORK, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Imprisoned New York financier Bernard Madoff's former mistress says after losing everything to him her story is the only thing she can sell.

In an interview with ABC News, Sheryl Weinstein said she feels guilty because she invested her family's money with Madoff and he "took everything." She has written a book about the relationship, "Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie and Me."

"Investing money, investing my family's money was my responsibility," she said. "When this happened, the feelings of guilt, responsibility, failure became overwhelming. I don't have any art, I don't have any jewelry. What I have to sell is my story."

Weinstein said she met Madoff 21 years ago, when she was the chief financial officer of Hadassah, the Jewish women's charitable group, which also lost millions in Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

The sexual relationship with Madoff lasted only 18 months, Weinstein, who is married, said. She said she believes Madoff became more emotionally involved than he wanted or expected.

"I certainly hope that Mrs. Weinstein was more discreet about her investment decisions on behalf of Hadassah than she was about her sex life," Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, said in a statement.