A former supervisory trader for Bernie Madoff who pleaded guilty to committing securities and mortgage fraud told a Manhattan jury on Wednesday that he had a lot of help — fingering not only his imprisoned ex-boss, but two other co-workers who are on trial for profiting from the epic $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
Cooperating government witness David Kugel testified in Manhattan federal court that he was aided in committing securities fraud by “others,” including former Madoff secretary Annette Bongiorno and office worker Joann Crupi.
When asked by Assistant US Attorney Matthew Schwartz if he also had help committing mortgage fraud, the 68-year-old Kugel again threw Crupi under the bus saying she, Madoff and “others” assisted him in breaking the law. He didn’t mention Bongiorno this time.
Kugel testified only briefly before Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the jury until Thursday morning, when the witness is expected to offer more vivid details of how business was conducted for decades under the radar at Madoff Securities.
His testimony is the first real strike by the government in the trial against Bongiorno, Crupi and three other ex-Madoff workers for fraud.
Kugel pleaded guilty in November 2011 to boosting the fraud by creating phony backdated trades beginning in the early 1970s and continuing until Madoff’s empire was busted by the feds in December 2008. His son, Craig Kugel, who worked in human resources for Madoff, has also pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme.