Ex-Madoff CFO pleads guilty to fraud charges

NEW YORK -- The top financial aide to Ponzi scheme architect Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan to charges including securities fraud, falsifying records and international money laundering.

Frank DiPascali, 52, former chief financial officer for Madoff's business, said the transactions were "all fake. It was all fictitious. It was wrong, and I knew it was wrong at the time."

Each of the charges calls for five to 20 years in prison, and fines as high as $5 million.

In a letter to District Judge Richard Sullivan regarding bail, prosecutors requested that DiPascali be required to post a $2.5 million personal recognizance bond to be secured by equity in his sister's home and co-signed by three financially responsible individuals.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt requested a tentative May 2010 sentencing date — a delay that in some cases signals a defendant will seek leniency by giving prosecutors information about other potential suspects before sentencing.

Federal court procedures in which a defendant waives indictment and prosecutors file criminal information eliminate the need for a trial and typically signal a pre-arranged plea agreement on sentencing.

Acting U.S. Attorney Lev 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.

By pleading guilty, DiPascali joins Madoff's former business accountant, David Friehling, as the only other persons criminally charged in the scam to date.

Both prosecutors and Rachel Silverman, a spokeswoman for DiPascali defense attorney Marc Mukasey, declined to comment on the case in advance of the plea filing.

DiPascali is among a small circle of Madoff relatives and former senior aides who have remained under investigation for months in the multi-billion dollar scam that victimized thousands of charities, celebrities, financial funds and individual investors worldwide.