A lawyer who confessed to fleecing friends and family with a $5million Ponzi scheme in a suicide note - then survived his attempt to drown himself - has been charged with fraud. Former corporate lawyer Charles Bennett, 56, jumped into the Hudson river in New York City last month, but was saved by police divers. Before making the suicide attempt, Bennett had written a lengthy suicide note confessing to establishing the scheme under the guise of a genuine investment portfolio, then blowing the money to fund his own 'absurd' lifestyle. Suicide attempt: Charles Bennett threw himself into the Hudson river last month, after writing a note confessing to starting a $5million Ponzi scheme . Bennett, who was arrested Friday at the hospital where he was recovering and charged with wire and securities fraud. In the note he said: 'I have systematically over the course of five years or so perpetrated a huge Ponzi scheme... I managed to completely squander the hard earned money that my family and dear friends managed to set aside over the course of their working lives. According to the New York Daily News, Bennett wrote that the returns he paid to some investors were 'an illusion - again not one trade was ever done. It was a Ponzi scheme pure and simple.' Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Lester argued unsuccessfully that Bennett be held without bail during an unusual remote court appearance in which the prosecution and Magistrate Judge Kevin N. Fox spoke into a cellular telephone from Manhattan federal court as Gatto and Bennett did the same from his hospital room. Lester said Bennett's fraud from at least 2008 until last month was revealed in a 16-page handwritten suicide note. She said he had cheated at least 30 friends and family members out of millions of dollars, sometimes entire life savings. 'This defendant has already demonstrated he's willing to take a great risk — some might say he took the ultimate risk — to avoid facing prosecution by attempting to commit suicide,' Lester said. One of his tactics to gain more investors was reportedly to say former New York governor Eliot Spitzer had signed up - an alleged lie for which he is also being charged. Spitzer called the scheme 'a horrific act by someone who pretended to have a relationship that did not exist and who lured unwitting investors into a Ponzi scheme.' Spitzer's ex-wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, said in a statement: 'We worked together at Skadden Arps. This is astonishing and heartbreaking on all counts.' Gatto argued vigorously that Bennett not be shackled to his bed. She said he had suffered anxiety and depression and felt remorse. She said he had swallowed a lot of water, had undergone surgery and suffered pneumonia soon after he was transferred to a psych ward. 'I'm worried that this man is going to have a terrible setback,' she said, adding that even bail-hearing talk of being shackled to his bed without bail had noticeable effects. 'I can see my client's blood pressure rising, his breathing becoming more shallow.' After New York City police rescued Bennett, officers recovered a handwritten suicide note signed by Bennett titled: 'A Sad Ending to My Life,' a criminal complaint said.
Charles Bennett, 56, jumped in the Hudson river last month and left note .
Was saved by police, who found document confessing to starting scheme .
Bennett wrote that he fleeced friends and family of savings to fund lifestyle .
Was charged Friday with fraud in the hospital where he is recovering .
A lawyer who confessed to fleecing friends and family with a $5million Ponzi scheme in a suicide note - then survived his attempt to drown himself - has been charged with fraud. Former corporate lawyer Charles Bennett, 56, jumped into the Hudson river in New York City last month, but was saved by police divers. Before making the suicide attempt, Bennett had written a lengthy suicide note confessing to establishing the scheme under the guise of a genuine investment portfolio, then blowing the money to fund his own 'absurd' lifestyle. Suicide attempt: Charles Bennett threw himself into the Hudson river last month, after writing a note confessing to starting a $5million Ponzi scheme . Bennett, who was arrested Friday at the hospital where he was recovering and charged with wire and securities fraud. In the note he said: 'I have systematically over the course of five years or so perpetrated a huge Ponzi scheme... I managed to completely squander the hard earned money that my family and dear friends managed to set aside over the course of their working lives. According to the New York Daily News, Bennett wrote that the returns he paid to some investors were 'an illusion - again not one trade was ever done. It was a Ponzi scheme pure and simple.' Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Lester argued unsuccessfully that Bennett be held without bail during an unusual remote court appearance in which the prosecution and Magistrate Judge Kevin N. Fox spoke into a cellular telephone from Manhattan federal court as Gatto and Bennett did the same from his hospital room. Lester said Bennett's fraud from at least 2008 until last month was revealed in a 16-page handwritten suicide note. She said he had cheated at least 30 friends and family members out of millions of dollars, sometimes entire life savings. 'This defendant has already demonstrated he's willing to take a great risk — some might say he took the ultimate risk — to avoid facing prosecution by attempting to commit suicide,' Lester said. One of his tactics to gain more investors was reportedly to say former New York governor Eliot Spitzer had signed up - an alleged lie for which he is also being charged. Spitzer called the scheme 'a horrific act by someone who pretended to have a relationship that did not exist and who lured unwitting investors into a Ponzi scheme.' Spitzer's ex-wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, said in a statement: 'We worked together at Skadden Arps. This is astonishing and heartbreaking on all counts.' Gatto argued vigorously that Bennett not be shackled to his bed. She said he had suffered anxiety and depression and felt remorse. She said he had swallowed a lot of water, had undergone surgery and suffered pneumonia soon after he was transferred to a psych ward. 'I'm worried that this man is going to have a terrible setback,' she said, adding that even bail-hearing talk of being shackled to his bed without bail had noticeable effects. 'I can see my client's blood pressure rising, his breathing becoming more shallow.' After New York City police rescued Bennett, officers recovered a handwritten suicide note signed by Bennett titled: 'A Sad Ending to My Life,' a criminal complaint said.
family with a $5million Ponzi scheme in a suicide lawyer Charles Bennett, 56, jumped into the saved by police divers. Before making the suicide himself into the Hudson river last month, after writing a note confessing to starting a $5million Ponzi scheme . Bennett, who was arrested Friday at the hospital where he was recovering and Daily News, Bennett wrote that the returns he