"He decreed that e-mails would no longer be stored electronically. First he decided that each of the firm’s e-mails would be printed and then stored in boxes, but he was persuaded by others that such a plan was impractical. In the end, Madoff ordered that old e-mails be transferred to microfiche, a cumbersome process that costs much more than archiving the records digitally."
Gawker - Bernie Madoff Is a Little Crazy - Crime