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Last update - 10:04 30/06/2009
Madoff gets 150 years in jail for investment fraud
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Ponzi scheme, Bernard Madoff 

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison on Monday for perpetrating Wall Street's biggest and most brazen investment fraud.

Madoff pleaded guilty in March to running the multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme, in which investors were paid returns from money paid by later investors.

Emotional victims who spoke at Madoff's sentencing asked U.S. District Judge Denny Chin to impose the maximum sentence of 150 years, an effective life term for the 71-year-old.
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Cheers and applause came from the courtroom as Madoff stood
facing the judge with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Your Honor, I cannot offer you can excuse for my behavior... There's no excuse... and I don't seek forgiveness," he told the judge. "I live in an almost tormented state now thinking about all of the pain and suffering I've created. I've left a legacy of shame to my family and my grandchildren."

"People have accused me of being silent and not being sympathetic. That is not true. You should know I feel sorry for everything that I've done. This is a horrible thing to live with. But there is nothing that I can do that will make your lives better", he told some of his victims, who made it to the court.

Defense attorneys had sought 12 years for the former Nasdaq chairman, while prosecutors wanted the maximum. The federal probation department had recommended 50 years.

Chin termed the fraud staggering and noted that it spanned more than 20 years, calling the breach of trust massive.

Investigators do not know exactly how much was stolen in the fraud, according to court papers. Prosecutors say $170 billion flowed through the principal Madoff account over decades, and that weeks before the financier's December arrest the firm's statements showed a total of $65 billion in accounts.

The trustee winding down the Madoff firm has so far collected $1.2 billion to return to investors.

"Given the enormous amount of funds he has stolen and the number of victims, the sentence is going to be very, very high," said Paul Radvany, a law professor at Fordham University in New York and a former federal prosecutor.

Madoff's brother, Peter, and his sons, Mark and Andrew, held executive positions in the brokerage unit of Madoff's firm. Their lawyers say they were not aware of or involved in the crooked asset management side.

The judge allowed Madoff, a former nonexecutive chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, to wear his own clothes at the sentencing hearing, instead of the loose-fitting uniform issued by the jail where he has been held since pleading guilty March 12. He wore a dark business suit.

Madoff has said all along that he committed the fraud on his own. He has not named any accomplices. The only other person charged is his outside accountant.

Related articles:
  • Ahead of sentencing, Madoff hopes to die a free man
  • IN PICTURES / The victims of Bernard Madoff's fraud scam
  • Victims of Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme speak out
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      1.   Has he also embezzled PLO`s 16 billions ? 18:59  |  Absolute Sweden 29/06/09
      2.   Scoundrel capitalist got a capitalist punishment 19:07  |  Marco Mauas 29/06/09
      3.   Global economy is a ponzi scheme 19:08  |  Russell Berns 29/06/09
      4.   Madoff sentence 19:16  |  Rigoletto 29/06/09
      5.   No Punishment Is Enough For Him 19:21  |  Yishai Kohen 29/06/09
      6.   By pleading guilty Madoff has cheated justice 19:26  |  Chris Linthwaite 29/06/09
      7.   MADOFF 19:31  |  Yitzchak Yellin 29/06/09
      8.   Madoff must have know that he was gambling for... 19:32  |  Esther 29/06/09
      9.   R igolleto: "sentence" 19:40  |  Arie 29/06/09
      10.   150 is not enough !!! 19:48  |  Akiva P 29/06/09
      11.   that he committed the fraud on his own 19:51  |  Akiva P 29/06/09
      12.   to wear his own clothes at the sentencing hearing 19:59  |  Akiva P 29/06/09
      13.   Yitzchak Yellin "..he stole from everybody not just the Jews.." 20:00  |  Anita 29/06/09
      14.   Exactly what all terrorists deserve 20:01  |  Arie 29/06/09
      15.   Go after those who received 15 to 20% commission 20:02  |  Witness 29/06/09
      16.   Absolute Bernie, Absolute Sweden 20:03  |  Akiva P 29/06/09
      17.   madoff should be younger 20:06  |  Connie 29/06/09
      18.   Bur n baby, bur n 20:08  |  Akiva P 29/06/09
      19.   Akiva 20:33  |  Connie 29/06/09
      20.   Yishai #5... since you mention chilul Ha-Shem... 20:36  |  Esther 29/06/09
      21.   Akiva #12... it was just for ole-times-sake... 20:44  |  Esther 29/06/09
      22.   Madoff won in the end, it seems 20:47  |  dyinglikeflies 29/06/09
      23.   #13 - Anita 20:49  |  Daniel 29/06/09
      24.   Leftie Esther from TA ,your Leftie Guru George Soros is next 21:02  |  Absolute Sweden 29/06/09
      25.   #20: Esther- There`s No Bigger Chilul HaShem... 21:08  |  Yishai Kohen 29/06/09
      26.   To # 1 21:11  |  Ama 29/06/09
      27.   #22 - dyinglikeflies 21:13  |  Daniel 29/06/09
      28.   #Daniel 21:18  |  Anita 29/06/09
      29.   The sentence is clearly excessive. Another gem of the US legal sy 21:26  |  Philip 29/06/09
      30.   Akiva P. - you should move to Cuba. Or North Korea 21:27  |  Philip 29/06/09
      31.   a disgrace his wife can keep $ 2.5 million of stolen money! 21:27  |  Tom Lobo Meyer 29/06/09
      32.   He`s a stand-up guy who plead guilty w/o bringing down others 21:57  |  Gerhon 29/06/09
      33.   Madoff Was a Piker 22:00  |  mimus 29/06/09
      34.   Connie - You are no position to judge others. The crime 22:14  |  Ben 29/06/09
      35.   Yishai #25... it is a question or willful interpretation... 22:24  |  Esther 29/06/09
      36.   Oye, Absolute #24... Soros is as relevant as Lithuania is... 22:34  |  Esther 29/06/09
      37.   Tom #31... that`s "small change" in comparison to the billions 22:37  |  Esther 29/06/09
      38.   Esther #33 They Choose War So They Suffer 22:41  |  Yishai Kohen 29/06/09
      39.   Eize Yiddishe Kopf 22:54  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 29/06/09
      40.   The conventional wisdom is wrong 22:59  |  Richard Witty 29/06/09
      41.   I Hope That He Lives To Be 221-Years-Old 23:26  |  Jeff Northridge 29/06/09
      42.   Yishai #38... you avoid the true expansionist issue... 23:26  |  Esther 29/06/09
      43.   till 120, i mean 221 23:47  |  na 29/06/09
      44.   Ben 00:47  |  Connie 30/06/09
      45.   Madoff 01:46  |  Richard 30/06/09
      46.   Astounding 02:56  |  Mark Lincoln 30/06/09
      47.   What a Disgrace 03:15  |  Mike 30/06/09
      48.   Trade Madoff for Shalit? 03:15  |  Steve 30/06/09
      49.   It ain`t over 03:28  |  Gully Foyle 30/06/09
      50.   Why Haaretz does not mention he is a JEW 05:48  |  Pepet Grill 30/06/09
      51.   Another Jewish crook who deserves what.. 06:40  |  maoriboy 30/06/09
      52.   Yishai #38... it`s comfortable to be deaf and blind... 07:27  |  Esther 30/06/09
      53.   Yishai #38... so now you have changed-the-tune... 07:32  |  Esther 30/06/09
      54.   Maoriboy ,hone Parone,Pachechas have a stranglehold on you and no 09:49  |  Absolute Sweden 30/06/09
      55.   # 29 Philip Tougher sentencing? 10:24  |  maoriboy 30/06/09
      56.   Isn`t that sweet 10:53  |  Chris Linthwaite 30/06/09
      57.   What about the other crooks? 11:33  |  Roo 30/06/09
      58.   will his heirs carryon the sentence, 13:43  |  dermot 30/06/09
      59.   #47 - What a disgrace! 15:29  |  Gully Foyle 30/06/09
      60.   #28 - Anita 16:33  |  Daniel 30/06/09
      61.   to Akiva P....Prison Uniform is just for poors! 17:41  |  Tony Silver 30/06/09
      62.   Madoff is innocent ! 17:47  |  Tony Silver 30/06/09
      63.   When a mench is not a mench like this they should feel the rope 18:53  |  Mark Leaman 30/06/09
      64.   I50 YEARS madoff 20:41  |  The Teacher/Instruct 30/06/09
      65.   Madoff 23:55  |  Leeguy 30/06/09
      66.   Madoff 10:04  |  The Teacher/Instruct 01/07/09
      67.   Madoff who Made Off 18:20  |  Joe Kelsall 03/07/09
      68.   # 67 Joe Kelsall 21:57  |  The Teacher/Instruct 03/07/09
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