Prosecutors Want Madoff’s Bail Revoked

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

The disgraced financier Bernard L. Madoff tried to hide at least $1 million in watches and jewelry from government investigators and should have his bail revoked and sent to jail immediately, federal prosecutors told a judge Monday afternoon.

The newly aggressive stance by prosecutors appeared to mark a serious deterioration in relations between the government and Mr. Madoff, who confessed to a large Ponzi scheme last month and had seemed to be cooperating with investigators trying to unravel the scheme. In an interview Monday evening, a lawyer for Mr. Madoff backed away from earlier statements that Mr. Madoff was helping investigators.At a hearing in federal court on Monday afternoon, assistant United States attorney Marc O. Litt said in late December Mr. Madoff had mailed packages of valuables to his sons, his brother and his friends. By sending the packages, Mr. Madoff violated the terms of his bail agreement, which barred him from disposing of any assets, Mr. Litt said.

The bail hearing in Manhattan came as lawmakers in Washington began discussions on whether the Securities and Exchange Commission was lax in following up warnings about Mr. Madoff. “This elaborate Ponzi scheme fell through the cracks of our regulatory system,’” said Representative Paul E. Kanjorski, Democrat of Pennsylvania.

Since mid-December, Mr. Madoff has been confined to his luxury apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, guarded by private security guards paid for by his wife.

A lawyer for Mr. Madoff, Ira Lee Sorkin, said at the bail hearing that Mr. Madoff had not intended to violate the agreement and should not be sent to jail. But speaking afterwards, Mr. Sorkin backed off his earlier statements that Mr. Madoff was cooperating with prosecutors and F.B.I. agents who are seeking to unravel the Ponzi scheme.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/business/06madoff.html?_r=1&hp

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I hope they do revoke this scumbag's bail.

[Andy823]

1. He never should have gotten it

In the first place. It's all about the people you know when it comes to crimes like this. I say no bail and keep him in jail till the trial is over and they throw him in prison!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. "Let me use the stolen money for bail."

:think:

[Swagman]

3. image a shoplifter being treated lightly

[truthisfreedom]

4. This is NOT the kind of man you can trust. NO BAIL. NO MERCY.

Lock him up and throw away the key. He ruined countless lives!

[teotwawki]

7. I read some interesting speculation on the motive for his confession

The gist of it was he really just lost the money with bad investments (like many other hedge funds recently) and rather than fess up to that, he is pleading guilty to fraud so that his clients can get the sipc insurance money.

You just have to wonder since so many of his clients were family and friends... I bet taxpayers end up bailing out the insurers too :(

[Baby Snooks]

9. At one point...

Some believe he did lose quite a bit in the "speculative markets" and began using new capital hoping to recoup it and then started losing that as well. If he invested it, he didn't commit fraud. If he disbursed it directly to investors, well, he did. The question is when he started disbursing the new capital. Apparently that was recently because the sons apparently had no part in it and seem rather "savvy" and would have caught on and probably turned him in early on while there were still assets to cover at least part of what had been lost. The whole thing is interesting to say the least. As for the sons, well, they have turned him in twice now. I suspect they lost quite a bit as well. And know that they aren't going to get it back. Any of it. Apart from the $500,000 from the SEC fund. Not everyone will get that much. It depends on how much they invested along the way and how much they lost relative to the investment. No one is just going to automatically get a check for $500,000.

What is even more interesting is the amount being claimed by investors which is probably what the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan is looking at. Some may not know exactly how much they invested and how much they had laundered to evade taxes. And that of course will put Bernie Madoff behind bars for the rest of his life. Along with some of the investors.

He really should be behind bars. He put up the $10 million bond but he also violated the terms of his bond by attempting to hide assets although it looks like he may have indeed just wanted his sons to have the items and feared having them included in an inventory which no doubt will be conducted if it hasn't been already. His personal assets including the assets of his wife are seizable with the exception of any "non-seizable" assets such as annuities.

That of course may be why no one wants to release the financial statements. He and his wife may not have much in assets but they may have quite a bit of cash coming in from annuities that at least cover the lifestyle so to speak. And that income cannot be seized and won't be. And that of course irritated quite a few of the Enron investors. Linda Lay probably has around $1 million in income each year. Despite having claimed they had "lost everything" along with everyone else. The Fastows probably have more. They apparently invested heavily in annuities and they managed to block any disclosure.

You have to wonder how sane he is at this point - almost 50 years on Wall Street with one of the most stellar reputations on Wall Street.
And he woke up one morning and realized he had lost somewhere between $30 and $50 billion. And he wasn't going to be able to get it back.

That's apparently when he went to his sons. Who then turned him in.

That must be hard to deal with as well. I don't feel sorry for him. But I do wonder how sane he is at this point.

By the same token, some wonder if he was set up - he did wipe out a large portion of Jewish wealth in this country which supported a lot of liberal causes. You do have to wonder.

[Saturday]

5. Let him stay in his apt.... why would we want to

pay for his room and board? lol

[onethatcares]

6. I agree

why should we pay for anything for him. Let his wife continue to pay for the security guards but let's have a federal marshall there too.

[PSPS]

8. Better yet...

Just store his lifeless corpse upside down from a nearby lamp post. This will save to most money for everyone, so it's a "win - win" arrangement.

[dmr]

10. Naw, let him join up with Joe the Gangster, & Joe the Serial Rapist, & Joe the Drug Dealer

and Joe WhoGotCaughtUpInSomethingHeShouldn'tHave. That's where they'd put people like us. The ilk of Maddow may come from money but that shouldn't make them any different. A crook is a crook is a crook ...

I've got a long list of high-profiled crooks I'd be willing to pay for their jail time. Are you listening Karl?

[aquart]

11. That's my mother's position.

But how can we seize and auction his apartment while he's living in it?