As the legal drama concerning Bernard Madoff, also known as the man who pulled the biggest investment scandal continues, litigators and investigators are busy pursuing the paper trail in the hopes of finding where all the money went.
According to a document Madoff’s lawyer filed last Friday, the Madoffs are worth more than $823 million in assets. This estimate includes $22 million in properties located in Manhattan, Montauk, Florida and in France. The couple also owns a $7 million yacht and a $2.2 million boat named “Bull”.
Other lists of assets include $12 million half share in a plane, $65,000 in silverware and a $39,000 piano.
However, the bulk of Madoff’s asset is the $700 million he put in his investment firm. Madoff said during his court appearance last week that his businesses were “legitimate, profitable and successful in all respects.”
The document also listed the couple’s expenses like $100,000 per month on legal fees, $140,000 in security, almost $3,000 for a housekeeper , $700 for electricity, $250 for doctor’s visits and $70 for cable.
Madoff’s lawyers are arguing for his release. They claim that incarceration would limit their time with the disgraced investor and that they would have a hard time preparing documents should their time with him become limited. They also pointed out that Madoff did not flee during his December arrest stating that Madoff “was always cognizant of the fact that he would die in prison”, they said during an interview at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.
“The reality of a life in prison term is not a recent revelation to Mr. Madoff, but an inevitability that he has been aware of since his arrest, if not earlier,” the lawyers said.
During last Thursday’s court appearance Madoff implicated himself and nobody else as the mastermind of the Ponzi Scheme. Madoff took all the blame creating a wall between himself and his family.
The FBI are now investigating the paper trail of Madoff’s businesses. They say that given the size of the operation, the number of victims and the amount of paper work which goes back to two decades, it would take at least 6 months to a year before any other people could be investigated or arrested along with Madoff.
Investigators are now looking at Madoff’s wife Ruth who made a sizeable withdrawal of $15.5 million days before the scam broke and another $10 million the day before.
Included in the investigation are Madoff’s brother Pete who reportedly helped Madoff in building his empire and Madoff’s sons Andrew, 42 and Mark, 45 who worked for their father. All have denied through their lawyers any wrong doing. Besides family members also under the FBI’s watch is Frank DiPascali who served as Madoff’s Chief Financial Officer of Madoff’s money management business.
Madoff pled guilty during last Thursday’s court hearing. If convicted he could face up to 150 years in prison for 11 charges including fraud, perjury and money laundering.