Bernie Madoff: Prisoner No. 419?

A recent CNN piece describes the deluge of anguished and irate correspondence received by the prosecution before Bernard Madoff pled guilty.

Among the sad and at times profane accounts from the convicted swindler's victims, one ironic e-mail stood out:

Penned by an African scam artist whose name was withheld, the letter expressed an urgent need for an American intermediary willing to give up details of his bank account to the author so that he could move his funds from the Republic of Congo to Dubai.

The author promised a return of 10 percent of his alleged $350 million funds, and even offered a preemptive apology in case his proposal offended the readers' moral values.

The only request he made was that the intermediary provide him with "absolute assurance that the funds will be safe and you will not sit on [the money] when it is transferred to your account."