Thread: Swindler Bernard Madoff faces up to 150 years in jail for a $50 billion Ponzi scheme

Swindler Bernard Madoff faces up to 150 years in jail for a $50 billion Ponzi scheme



BY THOMAS ZAMBITO AND CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Updated Tuesday, March 10th 2009, 3:20 PM

Swindler Bernard Madoff faces up to 150 years in jail for a $50 billion Ponzi scheme that turned hundreds of investors into paupers when he pleads guilty to 11 criminal counts.

"There is no plea agreement here," Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt told Manhattan Federal Court Judge Denny Chin Tuesday.

Prosecutors are seeking triple the damages -- roughly $170 billion -- from Madoff, which is standard in cases like this.

Madoff, who was wearing a bullet proof vest under his dark suit, said nothing as the prosecutor laid out his bleak future.

Earlier, he spread his fingers nervously along the defense table as Chin ruled he could retain lawyer Ira Sorkin, even though the lawyer's sons claim

Madoff stole $900,000 from a trust account set up by their grandfather.

Madoff wore a gray suit, with a black tie over a white shirt. His expression was marked by a facial tic - an involuntary widening of the eyes - that emerged every few minutes.

The 70-year-old crook, confined to his $7 million penthouse since he was busted in December, was snuck into the courthouse to avoid a clash with angry investors.

Madoff learned his likely fate after Madoff is charged with the biggest financial swindle in history.

His main victims include a "who's who" of Jewish philanthropists and leaders in the U.S., including Alexander Schindler, the former head of American Reform Judaism.

Originally Posted by IronAddict

This man would make Al Copone shake his head in awe. Hang his ass like they did in the old west, along with all the other crooked CEO's.

Originally Posted by Little Wing

yes and yes