Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he deserved,” said Adele Fox of Tamarac, who lost thousands of dollaresto Madoff's scheme. The mastermind behind the biggest Ponzi schemein U.S. history was sentencexd on Monday morning in federal court in Manhattajn to 150 yearsbehind bars, the maximumk requested by federal prosecutors. Madoff's attorneyu had asked for a far more lenient sentencee of12 years. In sentencing Madoff, U.S. District Judge Denngy Chin called thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breacu of trust was massive.” The judge describes his acts as “extraordinarily evil.
” “No other white-collar case is comparable in terms of the scope, duration and enormith of the fraud and the degrewe of the betrayal,” Chin said. Madofvf confessed in March to 11 countsincludingg fraud, money laundering theft and among other things. His victims reportedly numberf morethan 1,300 and stretch across the Their losses are estimated at more than $13 Prior to sentencing, Chin heard from nine of the victimws who talked about the devastation Madoff’s fraudc had caused to their lives and their Many of Madoff’s wealthy clients lived in Soutjh Florida and lost their life savings to his Fox, 86, said she is stilk furious that the and the federal governmeny didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud earlier.
“The SEC is just as guilt as Madoff and theyfailed us. Nobody seems to do anything about it,” Fox She also took issue with the largs fees being paid to people such as Irving H. Picard, the trustee who is handling the liquidatiomn ofBernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. “Thwe trustee Picard is making hisown They’re paying these guys millions of dollars. It woulc be better to pay the investors directly,” Fox Fox, a widow who once worked as secretaruy inNew York, said she invested $50,0000 in 1987 because she was relatedx to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry Horowitz.
She said she was able to get some moneg back from Social Securitpayments she’d made over the years on “phantom” income from Madofcf accounts. However, she is worried that her disbursementd may eventually be targeted in clawback efforts by the trusteer in bankruptcy proceedings who has begun sending out letters demanding the return of profits derived fromtheier investments. Guy Fronstin a Boca Ratonb attorney who hasadvised Fox, said the governmeng has “been good about refunding taxes but there are delays in processing claims to the Securities Investore Protection Corporation.
“Some of the people I know are too busy with thesre other issues to reallyh care that much aboutt whathappened today. They believed he would spend the rest of his days in Fronstin said. Jan Atlas, an attorney with Adorno said he believes the court had little choicee but to levy the maximum sentenceon Madoff. “Ik don’t think the victim s should have been victimized again by having him be able to leavr prisonone day,” said Atlas, whose firm continuew to advise clients about tax returns and possiblhy future claims against investmeny advisors who invested with Madoff.
“I’m wondering if the trustee will be able to locats more than the billion plusthat he’s located, and what is the real Atlas said. In addition to his prisonm term, Madoff was ordered to forfeitnearly $170 billion, whicg represents the proceeds of, and property involved in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S. Departmenr of Justice. “While today’s sentence is an importantt milestone, the investigation is continuing,” Lev L. Dassi, actinf U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New said in anews release. “Wwe are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidating assetss to maximize recoveries forthe victims.
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