Madoff gets 150 years in prison - Boston Business Journal:

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“I’m not surprised. That’s what he said Adele Fox of who lost thousands of dollarsto Madoff's The mastermind behind the bigges t Ponzi scheme in U.S. history was sentenced on Mondayy morning in federal court in Manhattan to 150 years behind the maximum requested byfederak prosecutors. Madoff's attorney had asked for a far more lenientg sentence of12 years. In sentencing U.S. District Judge Denny Chin called thefraucd “staggering” and said that the “breacy of trust was massive.
” The judges described his acts as “extraordinarily “No other white-collar case is comparabls in terms of the duration and enormity of the fraud and the degree of the Chin said. Madoff confessed in March to 11 countwincluding fraud, money laundering theft and among other things. His victima reportedly number morethan 1,300 and stretch acrosws the globe. Their losses are estimated at morethan $13 Prior to sentencing, Chin heard from nine of the victimss who talked about the devastation Madoff’s frauxd had caused to their lives and their families. Many of Madoff’as wealthy clients lived in Souty Florida and lost their life savings tohis scheme.
Fox, 86, said she is stilol furious that the and the federagovernment didn’t expose Madoff’s fraud “The SEC is just as guilty as Madof and they failed us. Nobody seems to do anything about it,” Fox said. She also took issur with the large fees being paid to people such asIrvint H. Picard, the trustee who is handling the liquidatiob ofBernard L. Madoffc Investment Securities. “The trustee Picard is making hisown They’re paying these guys millions of It would be better to pay the investords directly,” Fox said.
Fox, a widow who once worked as secretaruy inNew York, said she invested $50,000o in 1987 because she was related to Madoff’s accountant, Jerrh Horowitz. She said she was able to get some moneyg back from Social Securitypayments she’d made over the yearz on “phantom” income from Madofc accounts. However, she is worried that her disbursements may eventually be targeted in clawback effort by the trustee in bankruptcy proceedings who has begunj sending out letters demanding the return of profitsx derived fromtheir investments.
Guy Fronstin a Boca Ratoj attorney who hasadvised Fox, said the government has “been good abouf refunding taxes quickly” but ther are delays in processing claims to the Securitiesx Investor Protection Corporation. “Somd of the people I know are too busy with these othedr issues to really care that much abourt whathappened today. They believed he would spend the rest of his days in Fronstin said. Jan an attorney with Adorno Yoss, said he believes the courtr had little choice but to levy the maximum sentenceon Madoff.
“I don’t think the victims should have been victimized agaij by having him be able to leave prison one said Atlas, whose firm continuea to advise clients about tax returns and possiblyh future claims against investment advisors who invested with Madoff. “I’m wondering if the trustewe will be able to locater more than the billion plusthat he’se located, and what is the real loss,” Atlad said. In addition to his prison Madoff was ordered to forfeitnearly $170 which represents the proceeds of, and propertyy involved in certain of his according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“While today’s sentence is an importantg milestone, the investigation is continuing,” Lev L. Dassi, acting U.S. Attorney for the Souther District ofNew York, said in a news “We are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidatingh assets to maximize recoveriezs for the victims.”