I have read much of this story by former Columbia Journalism Review writer Mark Mitchell.  It presents an interesting story of Mafia money being laundered through Mafia related financial companies specializing in naked short selling, (selling stocks one does not own -- illegal but not enforced by the SEC), to derail companies with good treatments because they specialize in "pump and dump" schemes in bio-tech and if genuine effective treatments came along they would spoil part of their game. The Gambino and Bonano families are specifically mentioned.

Bernie Madoff was much more than a Ponzi scheme operator, according to Mark Mitchell. He was also heavily mob involved and involved in coordinated short selling, using some of his "investors" cash as needed! There is a whole network of such people tied back to "philanthropist"  Michael Milken, the former Drexel, Burnham, Lambert "Junk Bond King" who is apparently still pulling strings. Turns out Milken's foundation might be tax exempt but is definitely not so charitable.

Mitchell breaks the story into chapters that were published as they were researched and written. In each chapter he recapitulates the findings of relevant former chapters, especially repeating the names and deeds of those involved. That tends to drill their names and deeds into your memory but some might find it annoying.

Change a few names and you have lots of plot elements and some pretty fascinating stuff. Everyone likes mob related stories. They are just normal business on steroids with a few added features, especially in the area of collections and damage control.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."