Madoff Won’t Be Jailed, Judge Rules

Despite an alleged effort to violate conditions of his $10 million bond by sending expensive jewelry to family members, Bernard Madoff, accused of being the architect of a $50 billion Ponzi scheme run under the guise of a hedge scheme, will remain free on bail, a federal judge decided today.

However, the 70-year-old continues to be restricted to his expensive home in the Upper East Side of Manhattan under the ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis, Bloomberg reports.

Among those disappointed by the decision are a number of neighbors at his co-operative building, where Madoff until recently was the president of the co-op board, according to the New York Times. In addition to attracting unwelcome attention at the building from the media and tourists, the high-profile case against Madoff could also pose a security risk if angry investors come looking for him there, some residents fear.

As one unnamed resident tells the Times: “Our fear is that someone with nothing to lose will come after Madoff. We thought the court should move him to his house in Montauk. Then if someone goes and wants to take him out with a handgun, that’s not my problem.”

As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, some Madoff investors have been complaining publicly that he should be jailed prior to his trial in a federal securities fraud case. His alleged $50 billion scheme, if proven, could reportedly be the biggest financial fraud in U.S. history.

Madoff's lawyer, however, argued in response to the government's move to revoke his client's bond that Madoff is presumed innocent and shouldn't be jailed until he poses a danger to the community or is a flight risk, neither of which applies in his case. The judge reportedly decided the government hadn't proved that it's necessary to jail Madoff.