Kendall Coffey on the Peter Madoff Case

Peter Madoff expected to plead guilty to fraud

It is likely that the brother of Bernie Madoff will plead guilty tomorrow to involvement in what is the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.  According to the Today Show Peter Madoff, as the Chief Compliance Officer of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC , was essentially the firm’s second-in-command.  As Bernie’s kid brother he was the one left in charge when Bernie was out of town or otherwise occupied.

 

Kendall Coffey at Coffey Burlington

Kendall Coffey at Coffey Burlington

Bernie Madoff himself has continually insisted that he worked alone in the $65 billion fraud, likely to protect his wife, sons, and brother who all worked for the firm.  Until Peter Madoff, all of them have claimed to have no knowledge of the massive scheme that Bernie orchestrated.

 

But although Peter is the only family member to be charged so far with fraud, that doesn’t mean that his guilty plea lets the rest of the family members off of the hook.  The prosecution remains active, and there will likely be further investigations.

 

As part of his guilty plea, Peter will not only spend 10 years in jail, he will also forfeit all of his possessions.  Prosecutors value those to be about $143.1 billion dollars.  But legal experts caution that this is likely a symbolic number.

 

“While he would be agreeing to a forfeiture of $143 billion, in the real world that’s a paper number,” Kendall Coffey explained to the Today Show.  “The victims should be expecting little if any of that to be coming to them from Peter Madoff.”

 

Kendall Coffey Quotes

Kendall Coffey