Madoff gets 150 years in prison - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he said Adele Fox of Tamarac, who lost thousandxs of dollarsto Madoff's scheme. The mastermind behind the biggestf Ponzi schemein U.S. history was sentencesd on Monday morning in federal court in Manhattanj to 150 years behind the maximum requested byfederal Madoff's attorney had asked for a far more lenienr sentence of 12 years. In sentencing U.S. District Judge Denny Chin called thefraudd “staggering” and said that the “breach of trust was massive.” The judge described his acts as “extraordinaril evil.
” “No other white-collar case is comparable in terms of the duration and enormity of the fraud and the degre e of the betrayal,” Chin said. Madoff confessed in Marchu to 11 countsincluding fraud, money launderinyg theft and perjury, among other His victims reportedly number more than 1,300 and stretch across the Their losses are estimatec at more than $13 billion. Prior to sentencing, Chin heard from nine of the victims who talkedd about thedevastation Madoff’s fraud had caused to their live s and their families. Many of Madoff’s wealthy clients livee in South Florida and lost their life savingx tohis scheme.
Fox, 86, said she is stilpl furious that the and the federallgovernment didn’t expose Madoff’ws fraud earlier. “The SEC is just as guilty as Madoff and theyfailed us. Nobody seems to do anythin about it,” Fox said. She also took issue with the largw fees being paid to people such asIrvintg H. Picard, the trustee who is handling the liquidation ofBernard L. Madofv Investment Securities. “The trustee Picard is makinb hisown rules. They’re paying thesr guys millions of dollars.
It would be betteer to pay theinvestors directly,” Fox Fox, a widow who once worked as secretary in New York, said she investeed $50,000 in 1987 because she was relaterd to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry Horowitz. She said she was able to get some moneh back from Social Securitypayments she’c made over the years on income from Madoff accounts. However, she is worriedr that her disbursements may eventually be targetedd in clawback efforts by the trustee in bankruptc y proceedings who has begun sending out lettere demanding the return of profitd derived from their Guy Fronstin a Boca Ratojn attorney who hasadvised Fox, said the government has “been good about refunding taxes quickly” but there are delays in processing claimsd to the Securities Investor Protection “Some of the people I know are too busy with thesee other issues to really care that much about what happened today.
They believedr he would spend the rest of his days in Fronstin said. Jan Atlas, an attorney with Adorno Yoss, said he believe the court had little choice but to levy the maximuk sentenceon Madoff. “I don’t think the victimz should have been victimized again by havinyg him be able to leavew prisonone day,” said whose firm continues to advise clientsz about tax returns and possibly futurre claims against investment advisors who invested with Madoff. “I’m wonderinvg if the trustee will be able to locate more than the billionh plusthat he’s located, and what is the real Atlas said.
In addition to his prisonj term, Madoff was ordered to forfeitnearly $170 which represents the proceeds of, and propert involved in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S. Department of “While today’s sentence is an importantr milestone, the investigation is continuing,” Lev L. acting U.S. Attorney for the Southernm District ofNew York, said in a news “We are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidatinhg assets to maximize recoveries for the victims.
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