Prosecutors say Madoff lieutenant to plead guilty
NEW YORK -- Frank DiPascali, a former top financial aide to Ponzi scheme architect Bernard Madoff, is expected to plead guilty next week to criminal charges in the massive scam that victimized charities, celebrities and ordinary investors worldwide, federal prosecutors disclosed Friday.
DiPascali on Tuesday is scheduled to waive his right to have a grand jury consider an indictment, and prosecutors will file a criminal information to which he will plead guilty, according to a federal court filing by acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin's office.
The filing, a Friday letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan, did not disclose the charges expected against DiPascali, a longtime Madoff lieutenant and one of several people in the disgraced financier's inner circle of relatives and former employees who have been under investigation by prosecutors.
Sullivan directed that the letter be posted on Dassin's government website as a way to notify Madoff scam victims about the development.
Rachel Silverman, a spokeswoman for DiPascali defense attorney Marc Mukasey, declined to comment on the filing. Federal prosecutors similarly declined to comment.
With a guilty plea, DiPascali would join Madoff and David Friehling, the accountant for Madoff's financial business, as the only persons charged criminally in the financial scheme so far.
Suspects typically waive indictment by a grand jury, eliminating the need for a trial, when they have reached pre-arranged plea-bargain deals with prosecutors. 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, and with Friehling, who is expected to change his initial, not guilty, plea.
Although Madoff repeatedly claimed he acted alone, prosecutors have been reluctant to accept that he would have been able to run the decades-long scam without assistance. Prosecutors for months have focused their attention on DiPascali because he was the finance chief of Madoff's business and had worked at the company for decades.
Related Stories
ABC News Live