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Ten or more face possible Madoff charges: source
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-01 12:03 White-collar crime experts have said from the start that Madoff's scheme appeared to be too complex to carry out alone. "What will happen from now is the juggernaut of the federal government and many other agencies are going to roll forward and scoop up as many people as they can and prosecute them," said Anthony Sabino, professor of law and business at St. John's University in New York.
Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC had about 200 employees in a brokerage unit and an investment advisory business. The court-appointed trustee winding down the firm said the criminal activity took place in the investment arm. Madoff's wife of 45 years, Ruth, their sons Mark and Andrew and his brother Peter and niece, Shana, all face civil lawsuits. Peter, Mark and Andrew Madoff were executives in the brokerage, but their lawyers have said they were not aware of the fraud. Other long-time employees identified in lawsuits or other court documents include former financial manager Frank DiPascali, a 33-year veteran, JoAnn Crupi and Annette Bongiorno, who worked there for 25 years and 40 years, respectively. Their lawyers have not returned calls seeking comment. As part of trustee Irving Picard's job to recover as much money and assets as possible to redistribute to thousands of swindled investors, he has sued several Madoff "insiders" - billionaire businessmen accused of acting as feeders. The trustee and regulators say these fund managers knew or should have known the financier was running a fraud.
In response, the fund has said the group and its employees were also victims of the Madoff fraud. The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the trustee last week sued Cohmad Securities, a brokerage founded by Bernard Madoff and long-time associate Maurice Cohn. Also sued were Cohn's daughter, Marcia, and Robert Jaffe, both Cohmad executives. A total of about $6.5 billion is being sought by Picard from hedge fund founder Ezra Merkin and businessmen Stanley Chais and Jeffry Picower. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo also has sued Merkin.
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