Jun 30, 2009 6:56 pm US/Eastern
Ten More Could Face Charges In Madoff Scheme
Swindler Sentenced to 150-Year Prison Term for Multi-Billion Dollar Fraud
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff passes a police barricade as he arrives at court on March 12, 2009, in New York City.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Bernard Madoff is seen in this undated mugshot.
U.S. Marshals Service
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Convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff might know how long he'll be in prison, but he has yet to know where. Up to 10 of his associates may soon have their turns before a court of law, having to explain how tens of billions of investor's dollars simply disappeared, and what their involvement may have been.
The AP quotes unnamed sources within the government investigation of Madoff's investment company as saying ten people associated with Madoff will be charged.
A development that surprises no one, least of all former U.S. attorney Zachary Carter.
"When you're talking about $65 billion in trades over a period of years, that would require a substantial staff and consequently people who would have some knowledge of the transactions," Carter said.
Even if those transactions were never made, Madoff had to create the illusion they were.
Trading stocks is a paperwork-intensive business. Orders are placed, records filed, statements mailed.
Simply put, Bernie Madoff had to have help, if only to take care of the day-to-day accounting housekeeping.
The questions investigators are asking are: who knew what, and how much?
"Particularly if this proported to be an investment business in which these funds were invested in real stocks you would expect that someone would know that no investments were made. It's hard to conceive of a situation in which only Bernie Madoff would've known," Carter said.
The AP report gives no names but high level employees and Madoff's family members have been the main targets of the federal investigation. Madoff has reportedly claimed his family, including his sons, weren't part of the scheme. But the government might not be buying it.
"He could set up a situation in which they appeared to have no involvement even if they actually did. Then it'll be up to the government to prove circumstantially that they had knowledge even though they claim they did not," Carter said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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