Prosecutors want Madoff jailed, say he sent away jewelry
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The government wants Bernie Madoff behind bars pending the next phase of his fraud case, citing the accused money manager’s decision to send valuable personal jewelry and other items to third parties in recent weeks.
Madoff, 70, disposed of five items including ‘very valuable jewelry,’ Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Litt told a federal judge at a hearing in Manhattan today, Bloomberg News reported. The government apparently got three of the items back.
Despite that revelation, the judge, U.S. Magistrate Ronald Ellis, said he wanted more information from both sides before deciding whether Madoff should be detained.
From Bloomberg:
Bernard Madoff, awaiting trial for securities fraud, remained free on bail while a federal judge considered a request by prosecutors to send him to prison for mailing $1 million of valuables in violation of an asset freeze. Defense lawyer Ira Sorkin said the objects, including watches and cuff links, were heirlooms innocently sent to Madoff’s relatives. Sorkin said he told his client to retrieve them and alerted the government.
Litt, arguing for Madoff’s incarceration, told the judge that ‘the case against the defendant is strong, and it’s getting stronger,’ making it more likely Madoff will flee, Bloomberg reported.
‘In the face of a direct and clear order of a court, [Madoff] violated the order’ against transferring assets, Litt said.
But Ellis wasn’t immediately persuaded that Madoff’s decision to send off the personal items was enough to warrant a change in his bail status.
Madoff, accused of running a $50-billion Ponzi scheme, is under house arrest at his New York apartment, and his movements are monitored.
-- Tom Petruno