The PBS Frontline documentary "The Madoff Affair" (2009) tells the story about investor Bernard "Bernie" Madoff and the gigantic Ponzi Scheme he constructed and operated during many years until it all unravelled in 2008.

In the mid-1960s, Bernard Madoff tapped money from Jewish businessmen at exclusive country clubs with the promise of steady guaranteed returns on their investments. He then set his sights on Europe and Latin America, brokering deals with powerful hedge fund managers and feeder funds from Buenos Aires to Geneva. Billions of dollars were channeled to Madoff's investment firm, and his feeders became fabulously wealthy. The competition wondered how the man could produce such steady returns in good times and bad. There were allegations that Madoff was "front-running" or operating a Ponzi scheme, which the SEC investigated several times over the last two decades. But Madoff remained untouched until Dec. 11, 2008, when he admitted it was all "one big lie." FRONTLINE unravels the story behind the world's first truly global Ponzi scheme — a deception that lasted longer, reached wider and cut deeper than any other business scandal in history.

Watch the full documentary at the PBS Frontline site.

Read More: Bernard 'Bernie' Madoff's Personal Secretary Speaks Out in the Documentary 'In God We Trust' (2013)