The brother of Ponzi scheme king Bernard Madoff will plead guilty on Friday to conspiracy and falsifying records, admitting his role in the multibillion-dollar fraud that destroyed the savings of thousands of investors, prosecutors told a judge on Wednesday.
Peter Madoff is the former chief compliance officer at the private investment arm of Bernard Madoff's business.
Court papers signed by a federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday show Peter Madoff, who had worked with his brother since 1965, will plead guilty to two criminal counts, admitting his role in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud, falsify records of an investment adviser, falsify records of a broker dealer, make false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, commit mail fraud and obstruct the Internal Revenue service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa A. Baroni wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain that, pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Madoff had agreed "not to seek a sentence other than 10 years' imprisonment."
Madoff also agreed to the criminal forfeiture of $143 billion, including all of his real estate and personal property. The $143 billion, representing the amount of money believed to have flowed through the business accounts during the multi-decade Ponzi scheme, is included in the criminal forfeiture agreement, though authorities know that Peter Madoff's assets would never approach that figure.