Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Triangle Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he deserved,” said Adele Fox of who lost thousands of dollarsto Madoff's The mastermind behind the biggesgt Ponzi scheme in U.S. history was sentenced on Mondayt morning in federal court in Manhattan to 150 yearbehind bars, the maximum requested by federal Madoff's attorney had asked for a far more lenient sentence of 12 In sentencing Madoff, U.S. District Judge Dennyh Chin called thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breacgh of trust was massive.” The judge described his acts as “extraordinarilh evil.
” “No other white-collar case is comparable in termse of the scope, duration and enormity of the fraude and the degree of the Chin said. Madoff confessed in March to 11 countaincluding fraud, money launderingh theft and perjury, among othetr things. His victims reportedly numbetr morethan 1,300 and stretch across the globe. Their losses are estimated at morethan $13 billion. Prio to sentencing, Chin heard from nine of the victim s who talked about thedevastationh Madoff’s fraud had caused to their livesd and their families.
Many of Madoff’s wealthyg clients lived in South Florida and lost theire life savings tohis Fox, 86, said she is still furious that the and the federalk government didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud “The SEC is just as guilty as Madoft and they failed us. Nobody seems to do anything about it,” Fox said. She also took issue with the largse fees being paid to people such asIrving H. Picard, the trusteee who is handling the liquidatiobn ofBernard L. Madoff Investmenf Securities. “The trustee Picard is makinhg hisown rules. They’re paying thess guys millions of dollars. It would be betterf to pay theinvestors directly,” Fox said.
Fox, a widow who once workedf as secretary inNew York, said she invested $50,00o in 1987 because she was related to Madoff’e accountant, Jerry Horowitz. She said she was able to get some monegy back from Social Securitypayments she’d made over the years on “phantom” income from Madoff accounts. However, she is worrier that her disbursements may eventually be targetedr in clawback efforts by the trustere in bankruptcy proceedings who has begun sending out letteras demanding the return of profits derived fromtheid investments.
Guy Fronstin a Boca Raton attorney who hasadvised Fox, said the governmentt has “been good about refundin taxes quickly” but there are delays in processing claimd to the Securities Investor Protectio n Corporation. “Some of the people I know are too busy with thess other issues to really care that much aboutg whathappened today. They believed he woulfd spend the rest of his daysin jail,” Fronstin said. Jan Atlas, an attorneu with Adorno Yoss, said he believees the court had littlee choice but to levy the maximum sentenceon Madoff.
“o don’t think the victims should have been victimized again by having him be able to leave prisonone day,” said Atlas, whose firm continues to advisew clients about tax returns and possibly future claims againsty investment advisors who invested with Madoff. “I’m wonderinhg if the trustee will be able to locats more than the billion plusthat he’s and what is the real loss,” Atlaas said. In addition to his prison Madoff was ordered to forfeitnearly $170 billion, which representw the proceeds of, and propertyg involved in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S. Departmen t of Justice.
“While today’s sentence is an important milestone, the investigatio n is continuing,” Lev L. Dassi, acting U.S. Attorneuy for the Southern District of New said in anews release. “We are focusedx on tracing, restraining and liquidating assets to maximize recoverie forthe victims.”