New York Securities Lawyer Blog
Recently, on Thursday, December 20, 2012, Federal District Judge Laura T. Swain, in the Southern District of New York, sentenced Bernard Madoff’s younger brother, Peter Madoff, to 10 years in prison for his role in the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (“BLMIS”) Ponzi scheme. During his tenure at BLMIS, Peter was the chief compliance officer. Reportedly, Peter claimed he was unaware that BLMIS was operating a Ponzi scheme until the days before its collapse in December 2008. Judge Swain stated that Peter’s ignorance of the fraud was “frankly not believable.” Judge Swain also stated, “Peter Madoff’s role was not at all passive. Peter Madoff did nothing in the way of oversight. But still worse than doing nothing to oversee the operation, he lied to authorities.” According to authorities, Peter, as compliance officer, authorized documents and made false statements to regulators to make it seem as if he was performing his compliance duties, when he was doing nothing. In exchange, Peter accepted gifts from Bernard Madoff which he never declared on his tax returns. Several months prior to his sentencing, Peter plead guilty to criminal charges and forfeited all of his personal assets, including a Ferrari and over $10 million in cash. Lax & Neville LLP effectively assists investors, on both a regional and national level, that may have suffered losses as a result of their broker dealer’s breaches of fiduciary duties and/or disregard for their investment interests, including losses suffered in Ponzi Schemes. Please contact our team of securities fraud attorneys for a consultation at (212) 696-1999.