Prosecutors say Madoff lieutenant will face charges

NEW YORK -- Frank DiPascali, a former top financial aide to Ponzi scheme architect Bernard Madoff, will face charges in the massive scam that victimized charities, celebrities and ordinary investors worldwide, federal prosecutors disclosed Friday.

DiPascali will waive his right to have a grand jury consider an indictment, and prosecutors will file a criminal information against him instead, according to a federal court filing by acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin's office.

Such procedures often prefigure agreements between defendants and prosecutors on guilty pleas that eliminate the need for a trial. Dassin's office followed a similar procedure with Madoff, who pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March and is now serving a 150-year prison term.

Federal prosecutors also filed a criminal information last month against former Madoff business accountant David Friehling, the only other person charged in the criminal scheme so far.

Rachel Silverman, a spokeswoman for DiPascali defense attorney Marc Mukasey, declined to comment on the filing. Prosecutors similarly declined to comment, and the filing did not specify the expected charges in the case, which was assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan.

DiPascali is among a small circle of Madoff relatives and former senior aides who have remained under investigation. Although Madoff repeatedly claimed he acted alone, prosecutors have been reluctant to accept that the disgraced financier would have been able to run the decades-long scam without assistance.

DiPascali had an active role in calming the concerns of the Fairfield Greenwich Group, a corporate client that invested $7.2 billion with Madoff, according to a complaint filed last spring by the Massachusetts Secretary of State Thomas Galvin's office.

He participated in two due diligence sessions at which Fairfield executives asked questions about Madoff's trading records, investment protocol and other business issues, the complaint says.