Haaretz.com reports that hedge fund ponzi operator Bernie Madoff fell from his prison bed and was treated for serious injuries:

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff was hospitalized late last week and treated for facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, a Raleigh, North Carolina television station reported on its Web site on Thursday.

The injuries, the station reported, citing unidentified sources, were consistent with an assault.

News reports about the incident are sketchy, with ABC indicating Madoff fell from his prison bed, as opposed to being assaulted:

ABC11 Eyewitness News first reported that Madoff had injuries consistent with an assault. Now, the source says Madoff was not attacked in prison, but that he fell off a bed onto his face. The source said there was a lot of facial bleeding.

Inquiring minds are asking if the prison is using a new type of high-rise bunk bed. One possible theory on the falling Madoff, is that the former financier is not yet accustomed to his newly prison issued 30″ x 72″ mattress, which is roughly fives times smaller than the California King Sized bed he had gotten so used to pre-conviction.

The other possibility is that he did not actually fall five feet from the high-rise bunk bed breaking his ribs, fracturing his skull and collapsing his lung, but instead, got the beat-down from one of his new neighbors, though Madoff’s attorney denies these claims.