Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro waves he arrives for the world premiere of the film "Live From New York" at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in New York April 15, 2015. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

HBO has released the first look of its television movie “Wizard of Lies,” which is centered on the largest financial fraud in the U.S. history.

The teaser photo features Robert De Niro as Bernie Madoff and Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife, Ruth Madoff. Bernie operated a Ponzi scheme that is reportedly the largest financial fraud in the U.S. history.

The film follows Bernie's Ponzi scheme -- "how it was perpetrated on the public and the trail of destruction it left in its wake, both for the victims and Madoff's family," according to HBO's synopsis of the film .

“Wizard of Lies” is being directed by Barry Levinson, who is also executive producing along with De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsh and Jason Sosnoff, Vanity Fair reported. And the other cast members of the film include Hank Azaria as Frank Dipascali, Madoff’s right-hand man in the business, and Alessandro Nivola as Mark, the couple’s son.

John Burnham, Sam Baum and Sam Levinson have written the script based on Diana Henriques’ book of the same name, incorporating additional information from Laurie Sandell’s “Truth and Consequences.”

Forbes reported in 2013 that the investment scheme resulted in a loss of around USD 17 billion (AUD 24.02 billion AUD). Mastermind Madoff was arrested by the FBI in 2008, and in 2009, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

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