New York Daily News – Park Avenue lawyer Marc Dreier was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday by a judge who scolded prosecutors for wanting to jail him for as long as Ponzi swindler Bernard Madoff.

"Is the government serious about asking for 145 years?" Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff asked.

"To me, for the government to ask for 145 years is to demean the sentence Judge [Denny] Chin imposed on Mr. Madoff.

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Reuters – Dow Jones futures dipped 0.1 percent, S&P 500 futures were down 0.01 percent while Nasdaq futures traded 0.02 percent higher on Monday morning at 4:45 a.m. EDT, pointing to a flat opening for Wall Street’s main equity indexes.

With corporate earnings and economic data calendars virtually void of potentially market-moving events, the focus will be on the sentencing of confessed swindler Bernard Madoff.

At a court hearing due to begin at 10 a.m. EDT, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin is expected by legal observers to sentence Madoff, 71, to an effective life term in prison.

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Denver Post – Bernard Madoff asked a federal judge this week to sentence him to as little as 12 years in prison after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to operating a massive, decades- long Ponzi scheme.

In a letter filed late Monday and made public Tuesday, Ira Sorkin, a lawyer for Madoff, asked U.S. District Judge Denny Chin to sentence his client to less than a life sentence.

"Mr. Madoff is currently 71 years old and has an approximate life expectancy of 13 years," Sorkin said. "A prison term of 12 years — just short of an effective life sentence — will sufficiently address the goals of deterrence, protecting the public and promoting respect for the law without being greater than necessary to achieve them."

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New York (Hedgeco.Net) – Bernard Madoff was finally promoted from house arrest to maximum security prison, after pleading guilty to the largest Ponzi scheme in history.  Madoff, who swindled an estimated $65 billion out of the most elite investors, could face up to 150 years of prison.  

“I operated a Ponzi scheme through the investment advisory side of my business,” Madoff admitted to U.S. Judge Denny Chin at the hearing, referring to Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.  He did contend that his U.K.-based affiliate, Madoff Securities International along with the units run by his two sons were all legitimate entities.

“I am actually grateful for this opportunity to publicly speak about my crimes, for which I am so deeply sorry and ashamed,” Madoff confessed in the Manhattan courtroom.  “I knew what I was doing was wrong, indeed criminal.”

Madoff spent years building up a stellar reputation with the rich and famous, many of whom invested their life savings with him.  Madoff told the judge he started feeling pressure in the early 90’s to deliver the consistent returns that his investors expected.  This jump started the staple Ponzi scheme action of using new capital coming in to pay returns to existing investors.

Instead of investing in securities like he promised his clients, Madoff instead deposited their cash into an account at Chase Manhattan Bank, where he would withdraw funds as needed for investor redemptions.

“I believed it would end shortly, and I would be able to extricate myself,” he said of the scheme.  “As the years went by, I realized that my arrest and this day would inevitably come.”

Madoff’s sons have not been charged with any wrongdoing, nor have any employees at his New York City headquarters although investigations are still in the works.  Attorneys for Madoff’s wife, Ruth, state that she was the sole owner of their Manhattan apartment, along with $17 million in cash and $45 million in bonds.

Madoff’s attorney, Ira Sorkin said he would appeal the jailing before his sentencing hearing on June 16.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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