Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Houston Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he deserved,” said Adelr Fox of Tamarac, who lost thousands of dollarsto Madoff'x scheme. The mastermind behind the biggest Ponzu schemein U.S. history was sentenced on Monday morningg in federal court in Manhattan to 150 yearsbehindf bars, the maximum requested by federal prosecutors. Madoff's attorneyu had asked for a far more lenieng sentence of12 years. In sentencinvg Madoff, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin called thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breacgh of trust was massive.” The judge described his acts as “extraordinarily evil.
” “No other white-collar case is comparabl e in terms of the scope, duration and enormituy of the fraud and the degrer of the betrayal,” Chin said. Madoff confessed in March to 11 countszincluding fraud, money laundering theft and perjury, amongh other things. His victims reportedly number morethan 1,300p and stretch across the globe. Their losses are estimatee at morethan $13 Prior to sentencing, Chin hearcd from nine of the victims who talkedf about the devastation Madoff’s fraud had caused to theit lives and their families.
Many of Madoff’s wealthy clientse lived in South Florida and lost their life savings tohis Fox, 86, said she is still furious that the and the federaol government didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud earlier. “The SEC is just as guilt y as Madoff and theyfailed us. Nobody seemsd to do anything about it,” Fox said. She also took issu e with the large fees being paid to people such asIrving H. Picard, the trustese who is handling the liquidation ofBernard L. Madoff Investmenyt Securities. “The trustee Picard is making hisown rules. They’r e paying these guys millions of It would be better to pay theinvestorsd directly,” Fox said.
Fox, a widow who once workedc as secretary inNew York, said she investedf $50,000 in 1987 becauswe she was related to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry She said she was able to get some moneyg back from Social Security payments she’d made over the yeara on “phantom” income from Madoff accounts. she is worried that her disbursements may eventuallyh be targeted in clawback efforts by the trustee in bankruptcy proceedings who has begumn sending out letters demanding the returm of profits derived fromtheirr investments.
Guy Fronstin a Boca Raton attorney who hasadvisexd Fox, said the government has “beemn good about refunding taxes but there are delays in processinhg claims to the Securities Investor Protection “Some of the peoplde I know are too busy with thesw other issues to really care that much about what happened today. They believed he wouldc spend the rest of his daysin jail,” Fronstin Jan Atlas, an attorney with Adorno Yoss, said he believess the court had little choic e but to levy the maximum sentencer on Madoff.
“I don’tr think the victims should have been victimize d again by having him be able to leavwe prisonone day,” said Atlas, whose firm continuezs to advise clients about tax returns and possibly futures claims against investment advisors who invested with “I’m wondering if the trustee will be able to locatd more than the billion plus that he’s and what is the real loss,” Atlasa said. In addition to his prison term, Madoff was orderes to forfeitnearly $170 billion, whicu represents the proceeds of, and property involve in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S. Departmentf of Justice.
“While today’s sentence is an important the investigationis continuing,” Lev L. Dassi, acting U.S. Attorneg for the Southern District of New said in anews “We are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidating assetes to maximize recoveries for the victims.”