Prosecutors: Madoff was ready to send out $173M By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Writer ââ¬â 1 hr 39 mins ago NEW YORK ââ¬â Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month. The detail was provided in a court filing Thursday as prosecutors argued that Madoff should have his bail revoked and be sent to jail. They said the checks were further evidence that he wants to keep his assets away from burned investors. In the filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt said Madoff cannot be trusted because he had long engaged in a "scheme that required the defendant to lie routinely to thousands of people and a scheme which has caused extraordinary damage to individuals, families, and institutions all over the world." The judge will now decide whether Madoff should be sent to jail or remain free on bail in his luxury Upper East Side penthouse. Defense lawyers say bail should not be revoked because he is not a risk to flee or a danger to community. Investigators previously have said that Madoff had planned on distributing more than $200 million to his closest friends and family after he realized his scheme had unraveled. He also was accused of sending more than $1 million worth of jewelry to friends and family over the holidays, prompting prosecutors to ask a judge to revoke his bail. Prosecutors say he presents "grave" economic harm to the community because of the wide range of his alleged fraud, and they cited the attempt to distribute some of his wealth in the past month as proof of the damage he can do. "The only thing that prevented the defendant from executing his plan to dissipate those assets was his arrest by the FBI on Dec. 11," prosecutors argued. The letter was a response to a letter Madoff's lawyers had submitted to U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis on Wednesday. The defense lawyers had noted that Madoff and his wife had offered to give up their assets, including four properties in Manhattan, Montauk, N.Y., Palm Beach, Fla. and Antibes, France, along with four boats and three cars. The U.S. properties alone were estimated to be worth more than $19 million. "Mr. Madoff's conduct ... is not the conduct of a man who is unwilling to face justice in this matter," the lawyers wrote, noting that Madoff encouraged his sons at the outset to tell the authorities of the exact nature of his fraud and that he planned to turn himself in. Litt, the prosecutor, wrote that Madoff's "effort to paint his pre-arrest actions in heroic terms should be viewed with great skepticism."
I would be more interested in seeing the dates on the cheques to validate they were executed after vs believing the gov't who wants to put him in pretrial. Obviously this would not be the first time the gov't brought evidence forward late or at their convenience. not that I am agree with what he has done just don't necessarily just take the Prosecutors word. w
I like the way the gov't is so aggressive with Madoff now...when he first confessed, they asked him to recant LOL
How many more Madoffs are out there, smaller, approximately the same size or even bigger, whether individuals or entities?
Hedge Fund Mess Just Beginning To Come Home To Roost Why Madoff will not be an isolated case Over a year ago we questioned whether there was sufficient regulation of the Hedge Fund industry (click here to read). In light of the Madoff Meltdown the important question brokers must be asking themselves now is not IF more regulation is necessary, but should one remove oneâs clientsâ money as soon as possible from the many managed accounts around the world. I would say unequivocally the answer is yes to the latter. Madoff is not a single rotten apple in the bunch and the lone exception to the rule. Rather, Madoff is a reflection of lack regulation and quite frankly negligence on the part of many of the various agencies who were entrusted to protect investors. In August of 2007 Goldman and Bear each reported losses in proprietary hedge funds to the tune of $10 billion combined. At the time we questioned why nobody was looking at these companies and more importantly, we were concerned that if the âbest and brightestâ minds on Wall Street are losing billions, what about all the main street American hedge fundsâ? The simple truth is that these hedge fund managers are desperate right now to retain investors and stop liquidations and redemptions of their funds. One prominent Hedge fund manager told me last week âI had nearly a billion dollar fund last summer, and now Iâm down to 375 million in assets - due to redemptions.â These numbers are staggering to say the least and as a Financial Advisor you better be on your guard for Enron type of accounting in the next few months. Think about this for a second: The regulators allowed a âponzi schemeâ to operate for over 10 years at Madoff until Madoff turned himself in and had his children call the authorities. Iâm going to say this again for effect; but hear what Iâm saying: Madoff turned himself in and had his children call the authorities. In other words, this whole charade could have continued without anyone knowing for several more years. More chilling is the obvious fact that in all likelihood, many hedge funds are not even being reviewed for the most basic of things like year end reporting, accounting and performance. This is not to say that all hedge funds are frauds like Madoff, however we truly believe that the environment was right for abuses due to the lack of any basic oversight. Unless your hedge fund can provide total transparency (which they very rarely do) we would caution brokers about the safety of their funds. Sadly, when the proverbial crap hits the fan, these hedge funds will close. Then the trial lawyers and the regulators will turn on the individual advisors and question why THEY didnât due more due dillie on the fund or its managers. We would urge all Financial Advisors to immediately DEMAND complete transparency from any money manger or hedge fund in which they have recommended. If they refuse to back up their performance numbers, show their holdings and provide complete accounting, its time to consider getting out of dodge quick. Madoff will not be an isolated case. Remember, MADOFF TURNED HIMSELF IN AFTER 10 YEARS OF UNDETECTED FRAUD! Quite simply, there has been no accountability nor regulation for so long that its hard to believe that other hedge funds didnât cook the books and take shortcuts as well.
That means that his closest family and friends are most probably crooks who were in on this scam. They should all be investigated as the (supposedly) scum that they are! Their ass(e[t]s) should all be seized and frozen.