This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/business/8123330.stm
The article has changed 16 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Madoff faces sentencing in court | Madoff faces sentencing in court |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Financier Bernard Madoff is to be sentenced on Monday for plotting a $50bn (£30.3bn) investment fraud. | Financier Bernard Madoff is to be sentenced on Monday for plotting a $50bn (£30.3bn) investment fraud. |
| The disgraced financier, who pleaded guilty in March, could face a sentence of up to 150 years. | The disgraced financier, who pleaded guilty in March, could face a sentence of up to 150 years. |
| The lawyer for Madoff, 71, is asking for a sentence of as little as 12 years. The hearing is scheduled to start at 1000 local time (1400 GMT). | The lawyer for Madoff, 71, is asking for a sentence of as little as 12 years. The hearing is scheduled to start at 1000 local time (1400 GMT). |
| A judge has stripped Madoff and his wife of their wealth, forfeiting assets totalling $170bn and $80m respectively. | A judge has stripped Madoff and his wife of their wealth, forfeiting assets totalling $170bn and $80m respectively. |
| The figure Madoff forfeited was equal to the sum prosecutors said had passed through his investment firm over the years. | The figure Madoff forfeited was equal to the sum prosecutors said had passed through his investment firm over the years. |
| Victims of Bernie Madoff's scam, Cindy and Richard Friedman | |
| The $80m forfeited by Ruth Madoff - who is not facing charges - includes the couple's Manhattan home, another also in New York and a house in Florida. | The $80m forfeited by Ruth Madoff - who is not facing charges - includes the couple's Manhattan home, another also in New York and a house in Florida. |
| But an agreement with prosecutors has enabled her to keep $2.5m in cash. | But an agreement with prosecutors has enabled her to keep $2.5m in cash. |
| Bernard Madoff has admitted defrauding thousands of investors in a Ponzi scheme he said had been running since the early 1990s. | Bernard Madoff has admitted defrauding thousands of investors in a Ponzi scheme he said had been running since the early 1990s. |
| Life savings | Life savings |
| WHAT IS A PONZI SCHEME? A fraudulent investment scheme paying investors from money paid in by other investors rather than real profitsNamed after Charles Ponzi who notoriously used the technique in the United States in the 1920s Differs from pyramid selling in that individuals all tend to invest with the same person | WHAT IS A PONZI SCHEME? A fraudulent investment scheme paying investors from money paid in by other investors rather than real profitsNamed after Charles Ponzi who notoriously used the technique in the United States in the 1920s Differs from pyramid selling in that individuals all tend to invest with the same person |
| He pleaded guilty to 11 charges in March, including securities fraud and money laundering. | He pleaded guilty to 11 charges in March, including securities fraud and money laundering. |
| Investors present in the court will state what impact the fraud has had on them and Madoff will read a statement before a judge hands down a decision. | Investors present in the court will state what impact the fraud has had on them and Madoff will read a statement before a judge hands down a decision. |
| Many investors have written to the judge, with some saying entire life savings have been lost and mortgages are not being paid, following the fraud. | Many investors have written to the judge, with some saying entire life savings have been lost and mortgages are not being paid, following the fraud. |
| According to court papers, some 1,341 account-holders lost about $13bn in the fraud. | According to court papers, some 1,341 account-holders lost about $13bn in the fraud. |