In a New York City courtroom today, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin sentenced Wall Street insider Bernard Madoff to 150 years in prison, following his March 12 guilty plea for a Ponzi scheme that may have raked in $65 billion over more than two decades, according to Bloomberg.com.
The financial news service reported:
“I don’t ask for any forgiveness,” Madoff, 71, told Chin. He said he deceived his brothers, his two sons and his wife. The courtroom burst into applause as Chin imposed the sentence, which is about six times longer than those meted out to the chief executives of WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp.
The Boston Globe’s Web site reported:
“I cannot offer an excuse for my behavior,” said Madoff. “I will have to live with the pain and torment for the rest of my life.”
In handing down the sentence, US District Judge Denny Chin said, “The message must be sent that Mr. Madoff’s crimes were extraordinarily evil.”
The Twin Cities was a geographic center of the Madoff scam, and the American Jewish World reported details of the fraudulent dealing in a number of stories — including here and here. Madoff drew investors from the predominantly Jewish membership of the local Oak Ridge and Hillcrest country clubs.
Bernard Madoff (Photo: U.S. Department of Justice)
Hundreds of families and charitable trusts were wiped out in the Madoff scam; and the Wall Street Journal reported today that “the court-appointed trustee of the defunct Madoff firm, attorney Irving Picard, has recovered just $1.2 billion of the $13.2 billion in estimated net losses suffered by investors since December 1995.”
The Wall Street Journal story explained:
While eligible victims may get payments of up to $500,000 from the Securities Investor Protection Corp., set up to compensate investors for theft or proven unauthorized trading in brokerage accounts, the rest of their losses will be partially recouped from whatever assets Mr. Picard manages to gather in the liquidation process.
On Friday [June 26], Mr. Madoff’s wife, Ruth, agreed to a settlement with prosecutors in which she relinquished all the assets she shared with her husband. Mrs. Madoff will keep $2.5 million….
Mrs. Madoff gave up tens of millions in cash and securities as well as her $7.5 million interest in a New York City apartment and a $7 million Montauk, N.Y., property, and jewelry insured at more than $2.6 million. The agreement covers scores of items, including two fur coats valued at $48,500, $18,000 in linens and bedding, and $8,500 in silverware.
— Mordecai Specktor
