Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he deserved,” said Adele Fox of who lost thousands of dollarseto Madoff's scheme. The mastermind behind the biggest Ponzki schemein U.S. history was sentenced on Monday morninvg in federal court in Manhattan to 150 yearsbehinf bars, the maximum requested by federal prosecutors. Madoff's attorneh had asked for a far more lenient sentence of 12 Insentencing Madoff, U.S. District Judge Denng Chin called thefraud “staggering” and said that the “breachn of trust was massive.
” The judge describec his acts as “extraordinarily “No other white-collar case is comparable in termds of the scope, duration and enormity of the fraud and the degrees of the betrayal,” Chin said. Madof f confessed in March to 11 counts including money laundering theftand perjury, among other His victims reportedly number more than 1,3090 and stretch across the globe. Their losses are estimater at morethan $13 billion. Prior to sentencing, Chin heared from nine of the victimsd who talked about thedevastation Madoff’d fraud had caused to theie lives and their families.
Many of Madoff’sz wealthy clients lived in South Floridsa and lost their life savings tohis Fox, 86, said she is stil l furious that the and the federak government didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud “The SEC is just as guilty as Madoff and they faile d us. Nobody seems to do anything aboutg it,” Fox said. She also took issue with the largde fees being paid to people such asIrving H. Picard, the trustee who is handlinvg the liquidation ofBernard L. Madoff Investmentf Securities. “The trustee Picard is making hisown They’re paying these guys millions of It would be better to pay the investors Fox said.
Fox, a widoq who once worked as secretary in New said sheinvested $50,000 in 1987 becausr she was related to Madoff’s accountant, Jerry Horowitz. She said she was able to get some moneg back from Social Securitypayments she’d made over the yearzs on “phantom” income from Madoff accounts. she is worried that her disbursements may eventually be targete in clawback efforts by the trustee in bankruptcy proceedings who has begunj sending out letters demandintg the return of profits derivee fromtheir investments.
Guy Fronstin a Boca Raton attorney who hasadvised Fox, said the government has “been good about refunding taxes quickly” but therse are delays in processing claims to the Securities Investor Protection “Some of the people I know are too busy with thesd other issues to really care that much about what happened today. They believed he would spends the rest of his days in Fronstin said. Jan Atlas, an attorneyu with Adorno Yoss, said he believes the cour had little choice but to levy the maximum sentencewon Madoff.
“I don’t think the victims shoulr have been victimized again by havinb him be able to leave prisonbone day,” said Atlas, whose firm continuews to advise clients about tax returnxs and possibly future claims against investment advisords who invested with Madoff. “I’m wondering if the trusted will be able to locate more than the billion plusthat he’s located, and what is the real Atlas said. In addition to his priso n term, Madoff was ordered to forfeigtnearly $170 billion, which represents the proceeds of, and property involves in certain of his crimes, according to a news release from the U.S. Departmenft of Justice.
“While today’s sentencre is an important milestone, the investigation is continuing,” Lev L. acting U.S. Attorney for the Southernj District ofNew York, said in a news “We are focused on tracing, restraininf and liquidating assets to maximize recoveries for the victims.”