Disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff made an appearance at the federal courthouse in Manhattan to complete paperwork for his bail after a judge set new conditions for release, including a curfew and monitoring bracelet.
The Wall Street maven, who’s already given up his passport, must be in his home from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m., and wear the trendy anklet, joining the ranks of shame-faced celebs Martha Stewart, Lindsay Lohan and Michelle Rodriguez.
Wearing a baseball cap and a black jacket, Madoff said nothing to reporters as he walked out of the building and drove away in a sport utility vehicle. He was at the courthouse to sign over his Upper East Side apartment and his homes in Palm Beach and the Hamptons for his $10 million bond.
A chaotic scene erupted as he arrived at his home.
Madoff, smiling slightly, was surrounded by about two dozen photographers who jostled each other for a good position as he walked along the sidewalk.
Someone said “Don’t push me.” Madoff appeared to extend his arm protectively, then seemed to be pushed backward slightly, either by a journalist or the crowd.
Madoff has already surrendered his passport and his wife was required to surrender her passport as well.
Additionally, a key lawmaker said Congress will investigate Madoff’s alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
The chairman of a House Financial Services panel, Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski, says the scandal has further weakened already-battered investor confidence in securities markets and has raised more troubling questions about the effectiveness of the regulatory system.
The Pennsylvania congressman said Wednesday he’ll convene a congressional inquiry early next month to examine the alleged Madoff fraud and to determine why the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators failed to detect what he described as “these substantial evasions.”
MORE: Even Uma Beau Gets Skimmed
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a stunning statement saying it was probing its own “deeply troubling,” “apparent multiple failures over at least a decade to thoroughly investigate . . . allegations” involving Madoff, who SEC staffers apparently took on his word when superficially delving into complaints.
A separate watchdog group poring over Madoff’s accounts said it has already found “two sets of books, in complete disarray,” related to his business.
Stephen Harbeck, president of the government-tied Securities Investor Protection Corp., said one book kept track of the losses that Madoff had sustained – while the other contained the far rosier financial picture that investors were shown.
“It’s obvious that the documents that [his] customers see don’t reflect the reality of what the brokerage firm had,” Harbeck said, adding that it would probably take investigators months to sort out the mess.
“We’ve only scratched the surface,” he said. “The records are utterly unreliable on this case.”
The SIPC, which was created by Congress, can give investors up to $500,000 if it is determined that their money was stolen. Harbeck said the agency is already sorting through claims. It is not known yet how many investors Madoff had. But since the SIPC only has $1.6 billion to dole out, its funds will likely be depleted quickly.
In all, it appears investors had at least $32 billion in funds overseen by Madoff, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
Austria’s Bank Medici AG yesterday joined the list of duped international financial institutions, acknowledging it had parked $2.1 billion under Madoff’s control. In a separate SEC statement, the commission insisted one of its ex-assistant directors of compliance, Eric Swanson, who is married to Madoff’s niece, Shana, had no role in overseeing Madoff’s company.