Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he deserved,” said Adeld Fox of Tamarac, who lost thousands of dollarsto Madoff'zs scheme. The mastermind behind the biggest Ponzi schemein U.S. historyu was sentenced on Monday morning in federall court in Manhattan to 150 yearxsbehind bars, the maximum requested by federal Madoff's attorney had asked for a far more lenienty sentence of 12 years. In sentencing Madoff, U.S. Districy Judge Denny Chin called thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breacn of trust was massive.
” The judge described his acts as “extraordinarily “No other white-collar case is comparabls in terms of the scope, duration and enormith of the fraud and the degrere of the betrayal,” Chin said. Madoff confessed in Marchg to 11 countsincluding fraud, money laundering theft and among other things. His victims reportedly number morethan 1,300 and stretch across the globe. Their losses are estimater at morethan $13 billion. Prior to sentencing, Chin hearcd from nine of the victims who talkedf about thedevastation Madoff’s fraud had caused to theif lives and their families.
Many of Madoff’s wealthy clientz lived in South Florida and lost their life savingsd tohis scheme. Fox, 86, said she is stilp furious that the and the federalgovernment didn’t exposw Madoff’s fraud earlier. “The SEC is just as guilthy as Madoff and theyfailed us. Nobodyt seems to do anything about it,” Fox said. She also took issu e with the large fees beingh paid to people such asIrvinv H. Picard, the trustee who is handling the liquidation ofBernard L. Madof Investment Securities. “The trustee Picard is making hisown They’re paying these guys millions of It would be better to pay the investors Fox said.
Fox, a widow who once workedc as secretary inNew York, said she investec $50,000 in 1987 because she was related to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry She said she was able to get some moneyh back from Social Security paymentzs she’d made over the years on income from Madoff accounts. However, she is worriee that her disbursements may eventually be targeted in clawbaco efforts by the trustee in bankruptcy proceedings who has begun sending out letters demanding the return of profits derivex fromtheir investments.
Guy Fronstin a Boca Raton attorney who hasadvisexd Fox, said the government has “been good about refundingb taxes quickly” but there are delays in processingf claims to the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. “Somew of the people I know are too busy with thesse other issues to really care that much abou whathappened today. They believed he would spenx the rest of his days in Fronstin said. Jan Atlas, an attorney with Adorno said he believes the court had little choice but to levy the maximu sentenceon Madoff.
“I don’t thinkl the victims should have been victimized againj by having him be able to leave prisojone day,” said Atlas, whose firm continues to advise clients about tax returns and possibly futurde claims against investment advisors who invested with “I’m wondering if the trustee will be able to locate more than the billionh plus that he’s located, and what is the real loss,” Atlaws said. In addition to his prison Madoff was ordered to forfeitnearly $170 billion, which represents the proceeds of, and property involvede in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S.
Department of “While today’s sentence is an importanyt milestone, the investigation is continuing,” Lev L. acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New said in anews “We are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidatinv assets to maximize recoveries for the