Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 29, 2009

Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years for Largest Fraud in US History
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=250E144:A6F02AD83191E160DA117FB3D870F2CDC030207A0BD70133&
 
Bernard Madoff, 71, 'to live out his years in prison' says lawyer as
victims line up outside courthouse 
The man who confessed to organizing the largest fraud in U.S. history,
Bernard Madoff, has been sentenced to 150 years in prison.       Bernard
Madoff fraud victims line-up at Federal District Court in Manhattan for
the sentencing hearing for Madoff Thousands of people lost billions of
dollars in the investment scheme, and some of them testified at Monday's
hearing. Some spoke in great anger, others tearfully. Many said Madoff
ruined them financially and urged the judge to give him a long prison
term. Madoff lured investors into his scheme by claiming he was
delivering market-beating results through shrewd investing. Instead, he
was paying off old investors with funds from new investors, giving the
victims the false impression that they were making significant profits.
Before the judge imposed the sentence, Madoff spoke in court,
apologizing to his victims. Madoff's scheme went undetected by U.S.
financial regulators for some two decades, prompting calls to
drastically overhaul oversight of the system. Officials are now
investigating other people associated with Madoff's company and family,
though only one other person associated with him has been charged with a
crime so far.  

 Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

 


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