Another Turn of the Wheel of Justice – Peter Madoff Gets 10 Years In Prison

 And Has to Forfeit $143 billion – More or Less

The idea that Bernard Madoff carried off his swindle all by himself is just as preposterous as the returns he purported to earn on his investments.  But so far no one else has gone to jail or been punished, except for an old foolish accountant who was an ignorant man caught in the scheme unintentionally.  But this has now changed.

___________________________

Madoff’s brother sentenced to 10 years

NEW YORK – Peter Madoff will serve 10 years in prison for his role in his older brother's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, a US judge said on Thursday.

Peter Madoff, 67, pleaded guilty in June to criminal charges including conspiracy to commit securities fraud for falsifying the books and records of the investment advisory company founded by his brother, Bernard Madoff.

______________________________

And there is this happy footnote to the process.

He agreed at the time not to oppose a request by prosecutors for a maximum 10-year prison sentence and agreed to an order requiring him to forfeit a symbolic $143.1bn. US.

Of course Peter Madoff does not have $143 billion, but it is still nice to see he has to give it up anyway.  As for his crimes.

Peter Madoff, a lawyer, had been chief compliance officer and a senior managing director at the firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

Prosecutors say he helped create false and misleading documents designed to make it appear that the firm had an effective compliance programme. If the firm had such a programme, prosecutors said it would have shown that no real trades were taking place.

Peter Madoff also transferred millions of dollars within the Madoff family to avoid tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service and also put his wife on the firm's payroll in a no-show job.

And as for his future, one can only hope that his lawyer was correct in this prediction.

"Peter's life has been shattered by his brother's Ponzi scheme as well as his own conduct and guilty plea, and he will almost certainly live out his remaining days as a jobless pariah, in or out of prison," Wing wrote.

And no, that does not make up for his crime, or give any solace to his victims, but it sure makes the rest of us feel a little more jolly this holiday season.