STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 29 June 2012

[Roland99]

89. Bernie Madoff’s Brother Says He Will Plead Guilty

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-29/peter-madoff-bernie-s-brother-to-plead-guilty.html

Peter Madoff said he will plead guilty to conspiracy in Manhattan federal court three years to the day after his brother Bernard was sentenced to 150 years in prison for directing the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.

“The Madoff investment empire, built on a foundation of deceit, was a house of cards that grew to skyscraper proportions,” FBI Assistant Director Janice K. Fedarcyk said today in a statement. “Peter Madoff played an essential enabling role in the largest investment fraud in U.S. history. He made a pretense of compliance; he was really about complicity.”

Peter Madoff, 66, a graduate of Fordham University Law School who began working at the Manhattan-based firm in 1965, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation this morning. He agreed as part of his plea not to ask U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in New York for less than a 10-year term.

He will also agree to forfeit $143.1 billion, including all of his real and personal property. The forfeiture calculation is based on the total funds that passed through the Madoff firm during the fraud. The judge has to accept the plea.

more at the link....