Some victims may face Madoff in court as plea deal nears
NEW YORK -- Some victims of the alleged $50 billion scam run by Bernard Madoff might get a chance to vent their anger in federal court amid signs that the disgraced financier could plead guilty to criminal charges this week.
The thousands of investors who lost their savings in the massive Ponzi scheme have until 10 a.m. ET Wednesday, the day before the court proceeding, to e-mail federal prosecutors at usanys.madoff@usdoj.gov with requests to speak.
District Judge Denny Chin, who approved the procedure late Friday, wrote that he would "rule on whether, and the manner in which, victims may be heard."
The announcement pleased Raymond Spungin, 77, a Staten Island, N.Y., resident who last month told a court-appointed trustee that he and his wife, Felice, lost the $700,000 they invested with Madoff in 1992.
"It's a good idea to let people say what they think about what he did," Spungin said Sunday.
It could not immediately be determined how many victims have requested a chance to address the court.
Prosecutors are expected to detail specifics of Madoff's alleged actions and to directly charge him with an undisclosed number of criminal counts. Madoff waived his right to be charged under the federal grand jury process.
"It suggests the parties are getting close to a plea bargain deal," Columbia University law professor John Coffee, a securities law expert, said Friday. "But it's not yet clear what that deal will be."
It is unclear, for instance, whether prosecutors plan to charge anyone besides Madoff, 70, who told authorities at the time of his Dec. 11 arrest that he acted alone. He is under house arrest on $10 million bail.
Also unresolved is whether a potential plea deal would allow Madoff's wife to keep millions of dollars in assets.
In a court filing last week, defense lawyers argued that the $7 million Manhattan apartment where the money manager is under around-the-clock guard, $45 million in municipal bonds and $17 million in a Wachovia bank account belong to Ruth Madoff, "are unrelated to the Madoff fraud," and should not be seized.
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