But the question of the extent of the fraud is full

Time of the accounts sounded for "the operator of the century". Today, the eyes of some investors 8.800 "robbed" who have brought a complaint against Bernard Madoff will be hijacked on the "district court" of the South of Manhattan. This is that the federal judge Denny Chin must, late morning, its verdict on the author of the largest fraud based on a "Ponzi scheme" (the name of the pyramid scam system invented by Charles Ponzi in 1921), whose extent is uncertain. As a sanction, the Crown requested Friday a sentence of one hundred and fifty years of incarceration (or life imprisonment) against the deposed broker and the federal judge ordered the forfeiture of a maximum of 171 billion in assets to protect themselves against the consequences of fraud. In practice, for most of the experts, Bernard Madoff risks a sentence of twenty to twenty-five years of incarceration, akin to life in prison for the seventy-one years old financial.

"The scope, duration and the nature of the crimes of Madoff make it exceptionally deserves the maximum punishment allowed by law," said the Attorney, Lev Dassin, in his memorandum issued Friday. "Madoff lied overt and repeatedly violating the trust placed in him by individuals and institutions who have invested in BLMIS (Bernard l. Madoff Investments Securities, Editor's note)", adds the text, emphasizing that the fraud goes back "at least in the 1980s". Accordingly, the Crown requires a sentence of 150 years in prison against the perpetrator of the fraud or "a number of years which ensures that Madoff will remain in prison to life and represents at the same time a powerful factor of deterrence". He stressed the need to give the verdict an exemplary value, four years after the conviction of the leaders of WorldCom, in 2005, for $ 11 billion fraud. For all these reasons, he asked the Court to reject the application of a reduced to 12 years prison sentence filed by advocates of Bernard Madoff, under the age of their customer and his "confess".

frozen $ 170 billion

Main new element of the memorandum: for the first time since the beginning of the investigation, the request of the Crown evokes "the flow of investment of 170 billion dollars having passed through the primary account used by Bernard Madoff to perpetrate its Ponzi scheme", as direct his lies and his false accounting result. This amount is well above the $ 65 billion on the statements of accounts provided to its investors by Bernard Madoff, to November 30, 2008. So far, according to documents filed by the liquidator Irving Picard, the amount of net losses on accounts of 1.341 investors amounted to $ 13.2 billion. But, as a conservatory measure, judge Chin ordered, Friday, forfeiture preventive of a maximum (theoretical) 171 billion in assets, pending the results of the investigation. Although counsel for Bernard Madoff, Ira Sorkin, judge this amount "grossly overvalued and misleading", it aims to preserve the chances of compensation for the victims. Because of this decision, Bernard Madoff will have to relinquish ipso facto all of its assets, including its real estate (in Manhattan, Florida and Long Island), his wife, Ruth Madoff, being permitted to retain that 2.5 million dollars of liquidity. But the question of the extent of the fraud is full. "The figure of 65 billion registered in the books of accounts is no doubt largely fictitious." The money actually invested could represent only a third of this amount. "But, between the fictional interests and them are removed, will be probably never the actual amount of the collected money," said Emmanuel Saint-Martin, corresponding to France 24 in New York and author of a recent survey on the "system Madoff (1).

The fact that the accused chose to plead guilty no doubt to protect his family and his entourage , the Madoff trial found reduced to its simplest expression. But this obviously does not prevent the investigation to continue. So far, only his accountant David Friehling, has been indicted, and its rights ex-bras Frank DiPascali and Annette Bongiorno were also placed under investigation. But the list of potential "accomplices", "foster" funds or complacent investors could be extended over time, the founders of Cohmad Securities, Maurice Cohn and Robert Jaffe, particularly in the centre of investigations.

"He stole more than money (...).". It has plagued whole lives. "He deserves no mercy", wrote to judge one of the eight victims allowed to testify today before the Court. "He had every chance to succeed through his legitimate work, given his upbringing and his family situation." "He has chosen to abandon his honest work to pursue wealth and influence over the crime," said the Crown. It is in full crisis of confidence, "Madoff sentencing" will necessarily be an example.