Money Matters, Simplified.
Madoff divulges names of people linked to the scheme
by Jamie Anderson - July 30, 2009 - comments
Madoff seen with his wife during happier times. The swindler now faces 150 years sentence on charges of duping thousands of investors
Los Angeles, July 30: In what may be termed as a marathon interview, Bernard Madoff divulged the names of several fund managers who funneled investor money to the $65 billion Ponzi scheme. The names of the alleged accessories who may have known or suspected the fraud were also disclosed by Madoff.
Madoff also told the San Francisco attorney, Joseph Cotchett, how he managed to execute Wall Street's biggest investment fraud that transcended national boundaries and ran for decades.
More to be sued
Joseph Cotchett managed to obtain the interview with Madoff after he, on behalf of duped investors, sued the swindler’s wife, Ruth, his sons and his brother.
Cotchett revealed, “We had been negotiating with his lawyers and his wife's lawyers for the past two months. We said if Bernie would sit down with us, we would give great consideration to letting Ruth out" of the lawsuit.
"What we have come up with is a whole bunch of names that we are going to have to make decisions on as to whether a reasonable person can conclude ... they knew what he was doing," Cotchett said.
Some of the names divulged by Madoff have not been sued. Cotchett, the man instrumental in massive recoveries for investors duped in the Lincoln Savings & Loan debacle in 1992, now intends to amend the cases against Madoff and have these names included.
Ruth Madoff’s name excluded
Although, Ruth Madoff received funds through fraudulent transactions from her husband's firm, she is not being accused of having knowledge of the ponzi scheme.
"That doesn't mean she was involved in the underlying Ponzi scheme and to be honest I don't think she was but that doesn't mean that she won't be liable for that," Cotchett said.
He, however, did not comment on whether Madoff's two sons or his brother, Peter Madoff, would also be excluded from the defendants list.
Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan has already awarded the maximum sentence to Madoff for the damage inflicted on thousands of innocent investors. The 71 year old Madoff was sentenced to 150 years on June 29.