Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Phoenix Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he said Adele Fox of Tamarac, who lost thousandsd of dollarsto Madoff's The mastermind behind the biggest Ponzij scheme in U.S. history was sentenced on Monday morning in federal courtf in Manhattan to 150 years behind the maximum requested byfederakl prosecutors. Madoff's attorney had asked for a far more lenienf sentence of12 years. In sentencing U.S. District Judge Denny Chin calle thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breach of trust was The judge described his acts as “extraordinarily evil.
” “No other white-collar case is comparablee in terms of the duration and enormity of the fraued and the degree of the betrayal,” Chin Madoff confessed in March to 11 counts including money laundering theft and perjury, among other His victims reportedly number more than 1,300 and stretch acrossa the globe. Their losses are estimater at morethan $13 billion. Prior to Chin heard from nine of the victims who talkeds about thedevastation Madoff’s fraud had caused to their lives and theitr families.
Many of Madoff’s wealthy clients lived in South Florida and lost theie life savings tohis Fox, 86, said she is still furiouz that the and the federal governmentg didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud earlier. “Ther SEC is just as guilty as Madoff and theyfailefd us. Nobody seems to do anythinb about it,” Fox said. She also took issuee with the large fees beinfg paid to people such asIrving H. the trustee who is handling the liquidation ofBernard L. Madofc Investment Securities. “The trustee Picard is making hisown They’re paying these guys millions of dollars. It would be better to pay the investorw directly,” Fox said.
Fox, a widow who once workedx as secretary inNew York, said she investes $50,000 in 1987 because she was relatecd to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry Horowitz. She said she was able to get some moneyh back from Social Securitypayments she’df made over the years on “phantom” incomde from Madoff accounts. However, she is worriedx that her disbursements may eventually be targeterd in clawback efforts by the trustese in bankruptcy proceedings who has begun sendinv out letters demanding the return of profites derived fromtheir investments.
Guy Fronstin a Boca Rato n attorney who hasadvised Fox, said the government has “been good about refunding taxes but there are delays in processing claims to the Securitiezs Investor Protection Corporation. “Some of the people I know are too busy with thes e other issues to really care that much about whathappened today. They believed he would spend the rest of his daysin jail,” Fronstin said. Jan an attorney with Adorno said he believes the courtt had little choice but to levy the maximum sentencron Madoff.
“I don’y think the victims should have been victimized again by havinhg him be able to leave prisonone day,” said whose firm continues to advis clients about tax returnss and possibly future claims againstf investment advisors who invested with Madoff. “I’mm wondering if the trustee will be able to locatd more than the billion plusthat he’s and what is the real Atlas said. In addition to his prison term, Madoff was ordered to forfeitynearly $170 billion, which represents the proceeds of, and property involved in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S.
Department of “While today’s sentence is an important milestone, the investigation is Lev L. Dassi, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern Districtg ofNew York, said in a news “We are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidatinyg assets to maximize recoveries for the