Money Matters, Simplified.
Madoff's kin to face charges; his 'lieutenant' wins bail
by Jaspreet Virk - February 12, 2010 - comments
Madoff’s brother, Peter Madoff, held post of compliance officer at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in New York.
The federal prosecutors are ensuring that none of Bernard Madoff’s aides go scot free. After putting Madoff’s right-hand man Frank DiPascali Jr. behind bars, the prosecutors in Manhattan are now pursuing criminal charges against Madoff’s brother and sons, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Madoff’s brother, Peter Madoff, had held the post of compliance officer at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in New York and held executive post at Madoff Securities International Ltd in London.
Madoff’s sons, Mark and Andrew, were in-charge of the market making division of the firm. This unit was separate from the investment division, where Madoff concocted the Ponzi scheme, which lasted for 17 years.
Madoff’s kin deny involvement
Peter Madoff’s lawyer did not respond to request for comment but Mark and Andrew Madoff’s lawyer, Martin Flumenbaum, said that they did not have any knowledge of the fraud and after they were alerted of the crime, they immediately informed the authorities.
Flumenbaum was quoted by the paper as saying that the sons “continue to cooperate fully with the authorities in their ongoing investigations."
The exact nature of the tax fraud is not known yet. Tax fraud cases usually include failure to declare the correct income, showing false deductions like including personal expenses in business costs etc.
DiPascali to be released on bail
Separately, it is being reported that DiPascali, who had in August last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges related to his involvement in the scam, is being released on bail.
Admitting to the crime, he had told the U.S. District Court judge, "From the early 1990s until December 2008, I helped Bernie Madoff and others carry out a fraud."
DiPascali has been in jail since pleading guilty, but now he is being set free on $10 million bond secured by nine people.
DiPascali was the chief financial officer of Madoff's firm and had been working with him since 1975.
He is being released following requests from U.S. attorney Preet Bharara that DiPascali should be released so that he can help the authorities track people who abetted Madoff in carrying out fraudulent activities.
DiPascali, who is facing 125 years in prison, has been released on the condition that he will be under strict electronic monitoring for the time he is under house arrest.