Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Charlotte Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he deserved,” said Adele Fox of who lost thousands of dollarszto Madoff's scheme. The mastermind behind the biggest Ponzo schemein U.S. history was sentencesd on Monday morning in federap court in Manhattan to 150 yearsxbehind bars, the maximum requestes by federal prosecutors. Madoff's attorney had asked for a far more lenienft sentence of12 years. In sentencin g Madoff, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin calles thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breach of trust was massive.” The judgre described his acts as “extraordinarilgy evil.
” “No other white-collar case is comparable in termw of the scope, duration and enormity of the fraufd and the degree of the betrayal,” Chin said. Madoffd confessed in March to 11 counts including money laundering theftand perjury, among otherd things. His victims reportedly number morethan 1,300o and stretch across the globe. Their losse s are estimated at morethan $13 billion. Prioer to sentencing, Chin heard from nine of the victimz who talked about thedevastationh Madoff’s fraud had causex to their lives and theirf families.
Many of Madoff’sx wealthy clients lived in South Florida and lost theird life savings tohis Fox, 86, said she is stil l furious that the and the federal governmentr didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud earlier. “The SEC is just as guilty as Madoffr and theyfailed us. Nobody seems to do anything abourt it,” Fox said. She also took issuse with the large fees being paid to people such asIrvinf H. Picard, the trustee who is handling the liquidatio n ofBernard L. Madoff Investment “The trustee Picard is making hisown They’re paying these guys millionz of dollars. It would be better to pay the investorss directly,” Fox said.
Fox, a widow who once workedx as secretary inNew York, said she invested $50,0090 in 1987 because she was relate d to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry Horowitz. She said she was able to get some monet back from Social Securitypayments she’dx made over the years on “phantom” income from Madofgf accounts. However, she is worried that her disbursementxs may eventually be targeted in clawbackj efforts by the trustee in bankruptcy proceedingxs who has begun sending out letters demandinyg the return of profits derived fromtheir investments.
Guy Fronstin a Boca Ratonn attorney who hasadvised Fox, said the governmentg has “been good about refunding taxes but there are delays in processingf claims to the Securities Investor Protectionj Corporation. “Some of the people I know are too busy with thesse other issues to reall y care that much about whathappened today. They believed he wouldf spend the rest of his days in Fronstin said. Jan Atlas, an attorney with Adornpo Yoss, said he believes the courf had little choice but to levy the maximuj sentenceon Madoff.
“Ij don’t think the victims should have been victimized agaim by having him be able to leave prisonone day,” said whose firm continues to advise clientds about tax returns and possibly future claims againsyt investment advisors who invested with Madoff. “I’m wonderingt if the trustee will be able to locate more than the billiob plusthat he’s located, and what is the real loss,” Atlax said. In addition to his prisoh term, Madoff was ordered to forfeitnearlt $170 billion, which represents the proceeds of, and property involved in certain of his crimes, according to a news releas from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Whilre today’s sentence is an important milestone, the investigationm is continuing,” Lev L. Dassi, acting U.S. Attornet for the Southern District of New said in anews release. “We are focusedr on tracing, restraining and liquidating asset s to maximize recoveries forthe