DiPascali, Pleading guilty to Criminal Charges, Faces Up to 125-Year Sentence

(Aug. 11) In a Manhattan courtroom this afternoon, Frank DiPascali, former CFO at admitted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff's firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, pleaded guilty to a ten-count criminal charge this afternoon. According to the US DOJ press release, DiPascali pleaded guilty to: conspiracy, securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, falsifying records of a broker-dealer, falsifying records of an investment adviser, mail fraud, wire fraud, international money laundering, perjury and attempting to evade federal income taxes.

DiPascali, 52, of Bridgewater, New Jersey, faces a statutory maximum sentence of 125 years in jail. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan remanded DiPascali to prison, setting a sentencing date of May 15, 2010.

"DiPascali's cooperation could lead to a reduced sentence," NBCBayArea.com noted in Ex-Madoff CFO Pleads Guilty, Cooperating With Feds. However, Judge Sullivan denied DiPascali be released on bail, stating: "I'm not persuaded he will be here at the time of sentencing given the monumental sentence he's facing," as reported by Reuters in Madoff Firm's CFO Pleads Guilty, Denied Bail.

According to Reuters, "DiPascali, who worked for Madoff for 33 years from the age of 18, appeared stunned at the judge's ruling at the end of a two-hour long court hearing.
DiPascali told the court that he recorded securities trades for clients that were 'all fictitious' and that in January 2006, 'under Bernie Madoff's direction, I lied to the SEC about the activities of the firm.'"

Madoff recently began serving a 150-year prison sentence for his role leading the Ponzi scheme, which was originally described as a $65 billion fraud, including phantom profits. Madoff has claimed to date that he acted alone.

In a prepared statement read in court today, DiPascali said, as reported in this Reuters article: "I'm standing here today to tell you that from the early 1990s to 2008 I helped Bernie Madoff and other people carry out a fraud that hurt thousands of people. I am guilty."

Separately, DiPascali did not admit or deny civil charges he was charged with by the SEC earlier today.

Read more here.