2.Madoff had thousands of clients, and EACH one of them had literally thousand of transactions..stock buys and sells AND option strategies EACH month. And because it was all fake, they had to make sure that the stock price was accurate for the date and TIME of each transaction. That's a staggering degree of data and complexity.
Actually, most individuals (not high-net-worth individuals) would be in institutional/pension funds who invested with Madoff, so it would greatly reduce the number of accounts and not be thousands of client accounts (some accounts for the same client could be open and closed to show long-term/short-term gain/loss for tax purposes, as the case was with Wilpons / Katzes / Sterling).
Further, they were not self-directed (individually managed/traded) but "managed" by Madoff, so the clients wouldn't generate individual trades - they could just withdraw or deposit the money; Madoff could generate the "trades" any way he wanted to match redemptions / cash outflow in any account and "park" any kind of return ("dial-a-return" / Hillary's $100,000 from $1,000 "cattle futures" scheme) in any account he wanted/needed depending on the deposits / cash inflow.
That would greatly reduce the "paperwork." Yes, it's still time-consuming, but much more manageable and it was entirely under the control of Bernie and his accomplices, without clients knowledge of the mechanics.
It's a lot of work, but the pay was really good.
So very true.....when Bernie confessed, L/E found $millions worth of checks in his desk----monies he intended to disburse to a select few, as he went down in flames.
M/M also mailed boxes of pricey jewelry and rare collector watches to relatives----as a treasure trove for themselves (that booty had to be returned).
As he ID'ed Madoff's assets, court-appointed Picard found a super-secret labyrinth of interrelated international funds, institutions and financial entities of almost unparalleled complexity and breadth. There were assets and businesses in multiple places overseas that hid Bernie's thievery....and his money laundering and tax evasion schemes for selected "investors."
Betcha Bernie has lots more money hidden in secret places somewhere.