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Charges are being prepared against Frank DiPascali, a longtime right-hand man to imprisoned swindler Bernard Madoff, according to a court document filed by U.S. prosecutors on Friday.
DiPascali worked for 33 years in the investment advisory arm of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in New York, many of them as a chief financial executive and deputy to Madoff.
Once-respected trader and financier Madoff admitted in March to running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme -- Wall Street's biggest investment fraud -- that collapsed last year.
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US Department of Justice Bernie Madoff mugshot |
A Ponzi scheme is one in which early investors are paid with the money of new clients.
The document filed on Friday by U.S. prosecutors said "The United States Attorney's Office will file an information upon the defendant's waiver of an indictment." In legal terms, an "information" is an alternative charging document to a grand jury indictment.
It is often, but not always, an indication that a defendant may be ready to plead guilty to criminal charges.
The single-sentence document was signed by U.S. prosecutors and one of DiPascali's lawyers, but it gave no further information.
"There will be no other comment from Mr DiPascali or his lawyers on any aspect of the matter," said a spokeswoman for the law firm representing DiPascali.
Only Madoff, 71, and the firm's outside accountant David Friehling have been charged so far since his arrest last December.
Ten or more people associated with the firm were being investigated by the FBI and could face criminal charges, a law enforcement source said in June.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March and was handed a 150-year prison sentence in June for defrauding large and small investors worldwide over at least 20 years.
Fortune magazine reported in April that DiPascali was trying to negotiate a plea deal with prosecutors in which he would provide more information on the Madoff fraud in exchange for a lighter sentence.
The office of the U.S. Attorney said the case had been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan federal court.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes