By Rich Calder
Bernie Madoff had little to lose by confessing to masterminding the world's biggest Ponzi scheme -- he's dying of cancer, sources told The Post.
Madoff, who is serving 150 years at a North Carolina federal lockup after pleading guilty to swindling more than $65 billion, has been telling fellow inmates he does not have much longer to live.
"He's been taking about 20 pills a day for his cancer," said one inmate.
"He talks about it all the time. He's not doing very well."
There's been much speculation as to why Madoff took the entire fall for the scheme -- and rumors of his suffering from pancreatic cancer surfaced many months before he arrived at the Butner, NC, complex in June.
The prisoners did not confirm that's the form of cancer he's suffering.
His lawyer did not return messages yesterday but, when previously asked by The Post, would neither confirm nor deny his client has cancer. A lawyer for his wife, Ruth, also did not return messages.
