Madoff to raise $10m bail
Bernard Madoff is accused of defrauding investors of $50bn
Wednesday December 17 2008
Bernard Madoff will appear in court in New York today after being given an extra day to get three co-signers to guarantee $10m (€7.16m) bail terms, in addition to his wife, who has already signed it.
Mr Madoff, who was arrested last week after he apparently admitted running a $50bn "giant Ponzi scheme" through his 48-year-old investment company, had been expected to appear at Pearl Street court in downtown Manhattan yesterday. That deadline was extended until today, according to an order from US Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein.
Last Friday, he was in court to hear the securities fraud charge against him and was granted $10m bail by Judge Douglas Eaton. His bail was posted by his wife, Ruth, and one of the conditions of the bond is that he cannot stray far beyond the New York state boundaries. Mr Madoff's brother, Peter, has also signed the bond.
Last week, Mr Madoff met only some of his bail terms and at today's hearing he is expected to fulfil the outstanding conditions, providing the court with countersigned documents and providing details of his primary residence in New York. He also has been ordered to surrender his travel documents.
Officials have started to liquidate the remaining assets in his company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.
The Securities Investor Protection Corp (SIPC), a non-profit body which provides limited insurances to investors, has appointed Irving Picard as trustee to oversee the liquidation of Mr Madoff's brokerage to try and salvage any money for his former customers.
It is unclear at this stage if any assets will be retrieved for the growing list of casualties from the alleged scam, which include Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Santander, owner of Abbey.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint filed against Mr Madoff states that the broker had between $200m and $300m that he was intending to distribute to friends, family and clients.
While Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities was understood to have $17bn in funds under management at the beginning of 2008, the SEC said these assets have all but disappeared and that the business was believed to be trading insolvent "for years".
- Rosie Lavan in New York
