cold comfort

史上最大のねずみ講（Ponzi scheme）の首謀者として、禁固150年の判決を受けたBernard Madoff氏が獄中死したというニュースがトップで報じられています。

被害総額は200億ドル超、被害者は有名人から一般投資家までウン万人（！？）だそうです。

New York (CNN Business) - Bernard Madoff, whose name became synonymous with financial fraud, died while serving a 150-year sentence in Federal Prison. He was 82 years old.

His death Wednesday at the Federal Medical Center in the prison in Butner, North Carolina, was confirmed by the US Bureau of Prisons. A cause of death was not released.

In February 2020, he petitioned the courts for an early release from prison, stating that he had terminal kidney failure and a life expectancy of less than 18 months. But the US Attorney's office for the southern district of New York said Madoff's crime was "unprecedented in scope and magnitude" and is "sufficient reason" to deny Madoff's request.

Madoff was the mastermind behind a $20 billion Ponzi scheme — the largest financial fraud in history.

(Chris Isidore. Bernie Madoff, infamous Ponzi schemer, has died. CNN. April 15, 2021.)

記事の写真に見るMadoff氏は落ち着いた品の良い紳士に見えます。

実際、物腰の柔らかい、家族思いの実業家だったということですが、告発されて以降、長男は自殺、妻とも疎遠となり、罪を認め、悔いていたといいます。

もうひとつ別の記事から引用します。

In a 2013 jailhouse interview, Bernie Madoff — whose death from kidney disease stole headlines early Wednesday — once admitted that he was "ashamed" of cheating thousands of people out of their life savings.  

That admission, however, may be cold comfort to the lengthy list of people who have suffered in the wake of a scandal that first broke during the financial crisis over a decade ago. 

(Adam Shapiro. 'Not diminished by his death': Shamed Bernie Madoff leaves behind long list of victims. Yahoo! Finance. April 15, 2021.)

同氏に騙された多くの人は、死去の報道を受けて複雑な気持ちだろうと思います。

"cold comfort"というのは、慰めにもならない慰め、という意味です。

詐欺師の晩年の苦しみもその死も、騙された被害者にはお金が戻ってくるわけでも無く、何の慰めにもならない、ということです。