Prosecutors: Madoff deputy to plead guilty
Letter to judge suggests that DiPascali will be arraigned on Tuesday
Reuters
updated 12:22 a.m. MT, Sat., Aug 8, 2009
NEW YORK - Frank DiPascali, a longtime right-hand man to swindler Bernard Madoff, will plead guilty to criminal charges for his role in the disgraced financier's $65 billion fraud, according to a court document.
DiPascali worked for 33 years in the investment advisory arm of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in New York, many of them as chief financial executive and deputy to Madoff, whose swindled large and small investors worldwide over at least 20 years.
"The Government anticipates that the defendant will be arraigned and will plead guilty to a Criminal Information on Tuesday, August 11 at 3.00 p.m." a letter by U.S. prosecutors to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan said.
A criminal information is an alternative charging document to a grand jury indictment. No further details were provided on the charges.
Earlier on Friday, the case against DiPascali was assigned to the judge in an indication charges were being prepared.
A spokeswoman for the law firm representing DiPascali said: "There will be no other comment from Mr. DiPascali or his lawyers on any aspect of the matter."
Once-respected trader and financier Madoff admitted in March to running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme — Wall Street's biggest investment fraud — that collapsed last year. A Ponzi scheme is one in which early investors are paid with the money of new clients.
Only Madoff, 71, and the firm's outside accountant David Friehling had previously been charged since the financier was arrested last December.
Ten or more people associated with the firm were being investigated by the FBI and could face criminal charges, a law enforcement source said in June.
Madoff pleaded guilty to criminal charges including securities fraud, money laundering and perjury in March. A judge sentenced him to an effective life term of 150 years on June 29.
The case is USA v Frank DiPascali in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).