Madoff got $250 million before arrest from Shapiro: report

(Reuters) - Ten days before his arrest, Bernard Madoff received $250 million from entrepreneur Carl Shapiro, one of his oldest friends and biggest financial backers, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

It isn't clear whether the sum received by the disgraced financier was a loan or an investment, the paper said.

Madoff told the 95-year-old Shapiro that he would be paid back quickly with interest or a gain, but none of the money was repaid, the paper quoted its sources as saying.

Shapiro has personally lost an estimated $400 million from the alleged Madoff fraud, the paper said.

Neither Shapiro nor Madoff's attorney could be reached for immediate comment by Reuters.

Madoff was arrested on December 11 on a charge of securities fraud in what could be Wall Street's biggest ever investment scam.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; editing by John Stonestreet)