Bernard Madoff’s younger brother today copped to charges that he helped his crooked sibling pull off one of the greatest financial crimes in American history.
Peter Madoff, 66, surrendered to authorities early this morning before he was hauled to federal court where he pleaded guilty to charges connected to Bernie’s massive Ponzi scheme.
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He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and falsifying records.
Madoff is due back in court on Oct. 4, when it’s expected he’ll be sentenced to 10 years behind bars
US Attorney Preet Bharara said Peter Madoff will be an old man if he ever sees the light of day again.
“Peter Madoff enabled the largest fraud in human history,” Bharara said. “He will now be jailed well into old age, and he will forfeit every penny he has.”
Under terms of the plea bargain, Madoff will have to forfeit homes in Old Westbury, East Hampton and Palm Beach, and apartments in the West Village and Upper East Side.
Bharara said the investigation is far from over: “We are not yet finished calling to account everyone responsible for the epic fraud of Bernard Madoff and the epic pain of his many victims.”
The younger Madoff made bail this afternoon. The $5 million bond package included $1 million cash.
He jumped into the back of a BMW and sped away to enjoy his final three months of freedom.
“I am here to today to plead guilty to conspiracy for which I am deeply ashamed and sorry,” the scheming brother said.
While admitting his part in the massive fraud, Madoff said he too was a victim.
“My brother is Bernard Madoff,” he said. “At no time before 2008 did I know anyone … was committing a Ponzi scheme.”
He added: “I encouraged my own family to invest. My wife lost millions of dollars.”
The excuse-making con man insisted he was as shocked as anyone that Bernard Madoff was a crook.
“My brother is seven years older than I am and I always looked up to and admired him,” he said. “I revered him and trusted him implicitly.”
But feds said Peter, as chief compliance officer at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, played a key role in the huge fraud.
“The Madoff investment empire, built on a foundation of deceit, was a house of cards that grew to skyscraper proportions. As Peter Madoff has admitted today, he was one of the chief architects,” said FBI Assistant Director Janice K. Fedarcyk.
“For decades he certified that periodic reviews established the firm’s compliance with internal and regulatory rules. In fact, Peter Madoff conducted no reviews. He certified that his examination of the firm’s trading process established its integrity. He did not – indeed, could not – conduct any such examination.”
Since the company was making no real trades or investments, Peter Madoff’s failure to check his brother’s work was a key cog of crime.
“Despite the façade, the investment advisory business did not actually trade any stocks,” Fedarcyk said. “Peter Madoff played an essential enabling role in the largest investment fraud in US history. He made a pretense of compliance; he was really about complicity.”
US District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain asked Peter Madoff if he was aware of the consequences of pleading guilty. The scam brother said he was suffering from stress and anxiety and took a Xanax pill today.
The younger Madoff appeared to understood the grave nature of proceedings and Swain found him competent to enter into this plea bargain.
Bernard Madoff, 74, is now serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2009 for cheating thousands of people of billions of dollars. Peter and Bernard are the only Madoff family members to face criminal charges.
Additional reporting by Bruce Golding and David K. Li