Money Matters, Simplified.
CFO of Madoff Securities to plead guilty
by Jamie Anderson - August 8, 2009 - comments
Madoff is cooling his heals in prison. He is likely to be joined by Frank DiPascali who worked with Madoff Securities as director of research and director of options, before becoming the firm’s CFO in 1996.
New York, August 8: As the Bernard Madoff $65 billion ponzi scheme case progresses, more skeletons are coming out of the cupboard. The swindler scripted one of the biggest frauds in the history of corporate America. Key roles were played by his aides to ensure the success of the ponzi scheme.
Frank DiPascali, chief financial officer at Bernard Madoff’s investment advisory business, was one such aid who played a vital part in the fraud.
However, he too, like Madoff, has run out of luck now. Madoff, former chairman of NASDAQ was sentenced in June to 150 years in prison.
DiPascali to plead guilty
The CFO will be charged by the federal prosecutors for his role in the ponzi scheme. In fact, 52-year-old DiPascali is expected to plead guilty to unspecified charges next week.
"The Government anticipates that the defendant will be arraigned and will plead guilty to a Criminal Information on Tuesday," stated the U.S. prosecutors in a missive sent to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan.
DiPascali was associated with Madoff’s firm for 33 years and still was working with him when the Ponzi scheme was uncovered in December of 2008.
Prosecutors claim that DiPascali will waive his right to an indictment which essentially means that he will give up his right to have his case heard by a grand jury
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Hruska opined, “It would be reasonable for him to cooperate. The evidence against Madoff was strong enough for Madoff to go down without a fight. That would make it very difficult for someone in DiPascali’s position to fight the charges.”
After the charlatan Madoff himself, DiPascali would be the first person from Madoff’s firm to be charged.
The pivotal link
Prima facie evidence suggests that DiPascali was in a good position to understand all aspects of Madoff’s scam. In fact, he is being termed as an insider to the scheme.
Hruska opined, “He could be extraordinarily helpful to prosecutors and regulators in sorting it out. He seems to have been the key player in executing the decisions that Madoff made.”
If he cooperates in the investigations, a scenario which is pretty likely, it would considerably advance the inquiry.