Madoff Investment Securities

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), ALAN D. LEBOWITZ, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration ("DOL-EBSA"), and PATRICIA J. HAYNES, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), announced that JEROME O'HARA and GEORGE PEREZ—former computer programmers for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC ("BLMIS")—were arrested this morning at their residences by agents of the FBI. O'HARA and PEREZ are charged ... Read Full Story

Computer programmers, Jerome O’Hara of Malverne, N.Y., and George Perez of East Brunswick, N.J., charged for their role in helping convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard L. Madoff cover up the fraud at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BMIS) for more than 15 years. “Without the help of O’Hara and Perez, the Madoff fraud would not have been possible,” said George S. Canellos, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “They used their special computer skills to create sophisticated, credible and entirely phony trading records that were critical to the success of Madoff’s scheme for so many years.” According to the SEC’s complaint, filed ... Read Full Story

| Reflections from Latin America A ccording to some pundits on the left, the global financial crisis heralds yet another impending, apocalyptic demise of capitalism. Having witnessed the apocalyptic end of Soviet-era socialism I think I can skip the final days of capitalism. That would be a collapse too many witnessed in a lifetime. But I'll be happy if ever I see the final day of human malevolence and gullibility such as pyramid schemes, for instance. "He was thought of as a great philanthropist, a pillar of the community, the chairman of Nasdaq—all of that stuff," reportedly said one hedge fund executive who knew ... Read Full Story

Bernard Madoff, the disgraced financier accused of bilking investors of billions, admits guilt in Ponzi scheme. The former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts, including securities fraud, money laundering and perjury, that he allegedly cheated nearly 5,000 clients out of as much as $65 billion, according to federal prosecutors. more details and photos of the big scam after the jump… There is no agreement on sentencing but Madoff , 70, could likely be spending the rest of his life in jail for running what officials have said may be the nation’s biggest and most costly Ponzi scheme. ... Read Full Story

The FBI arrested Jerome O’Hara, 46, and George Perez, 43, at their homes on Friday morning on criminal charges of conspiracy for falsifying books and records at both the broker-dealer and investment arms of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC items for discussionApple Inc rose $2.46 or 1.2 percent, to $204.45. Dell Inc [...] Read Full Story