Bernard Madoff (left) arrives at Manhattan federal court in New York as Some victims were expected to call for harsh punishment at the disgraced financier's sentencing. --PHOTO: AP
NEW YORK - WALL Street swindler Bernard Madoff, 71, was handed a 150-year jail term on Monday, the maximum sentence possible for his massive financial fraud.
HOW MUCH IS GONE?
INVESTIGATORS do not know how much was stolen, according to court papers.
Prosecutors say US$170 billion flowed through the principal Madoff account over decades, and that weeks before the financier's December arrest the firm's statements showed a total of $65 billion in accounts.
EMOTIONAL victims had asked Judge Denny Chin to impose the maximum sentence of 150 years, an effective life term for the 71-year-old Madoff.
'How could somebody do this to us? How could this be real? We did nothing wrong,' said Mr Dominic Ambrosino, a retired New York City corrections officer. 'We will have to sell our home and hope to survive on Social Security alone.'
Cheers and applause came from the courtroom as Madoff stood facing the judge with his hands clasped in front of him.
US Judge Denny Chin called the fraud 'staggering' and noted that it spanned more than 20 years. He says the 'breach of trust was massive'.
Defence attorneys had sought 12 years, while prosecutors wanted the maximum. The federal probation department had recommended 50 years.
Before receiving his sentence, Madoff apologised to his victims, saying he would have to 'live with this pain for the rest of my life'.
'I apologise to my victims. I am sorry,' he said.
Earlier, Madoff sat next to his lawyers with lowered eyes as his victims recounted stories of their financial ruin.
'How could somebody do this to us? How could this be real? We did nothing wrong,' said Mr Dominic Ambrosino, a retired New York City corrections officer. 'We will have to sell our home and hope to survive on Social Security alone.'
Madoff's sentencing comes some six months after the former Nasdaq stock market chairman was unmasked as a huge con artist.
In March, he confessed to running a multibillion-dollar 'Ponzi scheme' in which investors were paid returns from money paid by later investors. -- AFP, REUTERS, AP
