Madoff jailed for 150 years over Ponzi fraud
Scattered applause and whoops broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after US District Judge Denny Chin issued the maximum sentence to the 71-year-old defendant, who said he lives “in a tormented state now, knowing all the pain and suffering I’ve created”.
Chin rejected a request by Madoff’s lawyer for leniency and said he disagreed that victims of the fraud were seeking mob vengeance.
“Here the message must be sent that Mr Madoff’s crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll,” Chin said.
The judge said the estimate that Madoff has cost his victims more than$13 billion (€9.2bn) was conservative because it did not include money from feeder funds.
“Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering,” he said.
Madoff, who looked thinner than his last court appearance in March, gave no noticeable reaction when the sentence was announced.
He also showed no emotion earlier in the hearing as he listened to nine victims spend nearly an hour describing their despair. Some openly wept. Others raised their voices in anger.
“Life has been a living hell. It feels like the nightmare we can’t wake from,” said Carla Hirshhorn.
“He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in-between. He had no values,” said Tom Fitzmaurice. “He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife Ruth could live a life of luxury beyond belief.”
Dominic Ambrosino called it an “indescribably heinous crime” and urged a long prison sentence so “we will know he is imprisoned in much the same way he imprisoned us and others”.
He added: “In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence.”
When asked by the judge whether he had anything to say, Madoff slowly stood, leaned forward on the defence table and spoke in a monotone for about 10 minutes.
At various times, he referred to his historic fraud as a “problem”, “an error of judgment” and “a tragic mistake”.
He claimed he and his wife were tormented, saying she “cries herself to sleep every night, knowing all the pain and suffering I have caused”. “That’s something I live with, as well,” he said.
He then finally looked at the victims lining the first row of the gallery.
“I will turn and face you,” he said. “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t help you.”
Prosecutor Lisa Baroni said Madoff deserved a life sentence because he “stole ruthlessly and without remorse”.
The jailed Madoff already has taken a severe financial hit. Last week, a judge issued a preliminary $171bn forfeiture order stripping Madoff of all his personal property, including real estate, investments and$80 million in assets that his wife Ruth had claimed were hers. The order left her with $2.5m.
The terms require the Madoffs to sell a $7m Manhattan apartment where Ruth Madoff still lives.
An $11m estate in Palm Beach, Florida, a $4m home in Montauk and a $2.2m boat will also be put on the market.
Before Madoff became a symbol of Wall Street greed, he earned a reputation as a trusted money manager with a Midas touch. Even as the market fluctuated, clients of his secretive investment advisory business – from Florida retirees to celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, actors Kevin Bacon and John Malkovich and Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax – enjoyed steady double-digit returns for decades.
But late last year Madoff made a dramatic confession: Authorities say he pulled his sons aside and told them it was “all just one big lie”.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed”. He insisted that he acted alone, describing a separate wholesale stock-trading firm run by his sons and brother as honest and legitimate.
Aside from an accountant accused of cooking Madoff’s books, no one else has been criminally charged. But the family, including his wife, and brokerage firms who recruited investors have come under intense scrutiny by the FBI, regulators and a court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff’s assets.
The trustee and prosecutors have sought to go after assets to compensate thousands of victims who have filed claims against Madoff.
How much is available to pay them remains unknown, though it is expected to be only a fraction of the astronomical losses associated with the fraud.
The $171bn forfeiture figure used by prosecutors merely mirrors the amount they estimate that, over decades, “flowed into the principal account to perpetrate the Ponzi scheme”.
The statements sent to investors showing their accounts were worth as much as $65bn were fiction.
The investigation has found that in reality, Madoff never made any investments, instead using the money from new investors to pay returns to existing clients – and to finance a lavish lifestyle for his family.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
