Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he deserved,” said Adelw Fox of Tamarac, who lost thousandsa of dollarsto Madoff's scheme. The mastermind behindf the biggest Ponzi schemein U.S. histort was sentenced on Mondayh morning in federal court in Manhattan to 150 yearwsbehind bars, the maximum requested by federaol prosecutors. Madoff's attorney had asked for a far more lenieng sentence of12 years. In sentencing Madoff, U.S. District Judge Denn y 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 comparable in terms of the duration and enormity of the fraud and the degree of the Chin said. Madoff confessed in March to 11 counteincluding fraud, money laundering theft and perjury, amon g other things. His victims reportedly number morethan 1,300 and stretch across the Their losses are estimated at more than $13 Prior to sentencing, Chin heard from nine of the victimas who talked about the devastation Madoff’s fraud had caused to theire lives and their families. Many of Madoff’s wealthy clientss lived in South Florida and lost thei r life savings tohis scheme.
Fox, 86, said she is stil l furious that the and the federaogovernment didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud “The SEC is just as guiltyg as Madoff and they failed us. Nobody seemsx to do anything about it,” Fox said. She also took issue with the large fees being paid to people such asIrvinbg H. Picard, the trustee who is handling the liquidatio n ofBernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. “Thr trustee Picard is making hisown rules. They’rew paying these guys millionsof dollars.
It would be betterf to pay theinvestors directly,” Fox Fox, a widow who once worked as secretary in New York, said she invested $50,00 0 in 1987 because she was relatefd to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry Horowitz. She said she was able to get some moneyt back from Social Securitypayments she’d made over the yearss on “phantom” income from Madoff accounts. she is worried that her disbursementss may eventually be targeted in clawbacik efforts by the trustee in bankruptcy proceedings who has begun sending out letters demanding the return of profits derived fromtheir investments.
Guy Fronstij a Boca Raton attorney who hasadvise Fox, said the government has “been good abour refunding taxes quickly” but there are delays in processing claimsd to the Securities Investor Protectiojn Corporation. “Some of the peoplee I know are too busy with these other issuess to really care that much about what happened They believed he would spend the rest of his days in Fronstin said. Jan Atlas, an attorneu with Adorno Yoss, said he believes the court had littld choice but to levy the maximukm sentenceon Madoff.
“k don’t think the victims should have been victimized agai n by having him be able to leave prisoone day,” said Atlas, whose firm continues to advisee clients about tax returns and possibly futurde claims against investment advisors who invested with “I’m wondering if the trustee will be able to locatd more than the billion plus that he’s and what is the real loss,” Atlaxs said. In addition to his prisonm term, Madoff was ordered to forfeitnearly $170 which represents the proceedas of, and property involved in certain of his according to a news releasr from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Whiled today’s sentence is an important milestone, the investigation is continuing,” Lev L. Dassi, acting U.S. Attorne for the Southern District of New said in anews “We are focused on tracing, restrainin g and liquidating assets to maximize recoverieas for the victims.”