Bernie Madoff Plays Lets Make a Deal
Updated 6:15 AM PST, Tue, Jan 13, 2009
Buried beneath all of the (justified) outrage that a federal judge rejected prosecutors' request to yank Bernie Madoff's bail is a report suggesting that the Ponzi scum may be working on a deal with the feds.
Madoff’s lawyer, Ira Lee Sorkin, is “engaging in discussions concerning a possible disposition of this case,” federal prosecutors noted in a court order released Monday, according to the New York Times.
That means the $50 billion fraud that has ensnared Elie Weisel, Kevin Bacon and scores of hapless investors and Jewish charities may be settled without a trial, the Times reported.
Madoff's lawyer would not discuss what "discussions concerning a possible disposition of the this case" means but several former federal prosecutors told the Times it could only mean that Madoff would plead guilty in exchange for a sweeter deal.
“He’s trying to cut a deal,” said Marvin G. Pickholz, a former securities regulator and specialist in white-collar crime told the Times. “The only other possible ‘disposition’ that could be negotiated would be for the government to drop the whole case — and that’s not going to happen.”
First Published: Jan 13, 2009 5:58 AM PST
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