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<< Previous   of   Next >> Assocociated Press  (click to enlarge) Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff leaves U.S. District court after a bail hearing in New York on Monday. Prosecutors on Monday said Madoff violated bail conditions by mailing about $1 million worth of jewelry and other assets to relatives and should be jailed without bail.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, January 8, 2009 Jail urged for financier Bernard Madoff Associated Press NEW YORK -- Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff and his wife sent at least 16 watches, a jade necklace and a diamond bracelet to family and relatives, proving he will continue to dissipate what little is left from his $50 billion fraud, a prosecutor told a judge in arguing that Madoff be jailed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt said in a letter released Wednesday that Madoff violated a court order barring him from dissipating, concealing or disposing of any assets when he and his wife sent the items to close relatives and two friends. "The need for detention in this case is clear," Litt wrote in a letter to Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis. "The continued release of the defendant presents a danger to the community of additional harm and further obstruction of justice." Madoff was arrested Dec. 11 on a securities fraud charge after the FBI said he confessed to swindling investors. Authorities say he told his sons he ran a $50 billion Ponzi scheme and had only a few hundred million dollars left. Although he has been freed on $10 million bail, he has been confined to his $7 million Manhattan penthouse with an electronic bracelet and 24-hour guard. During a bail hearing Monday, Ellis asked Litt and defense lawyer Ira Sorkin to file documents explaining their positions after Litt said Madoff should lose his freedom. Sorkin's filing was due later Wednesday. "Our comments will be contained in our filing with the court," Sorkin said. A criminal complaint against Madoff said the former Nasdaq chairman had offered to distribute between $200 million and $300 million that remained in his company's accounts to close relatives and friends before he surrendered to authorities. The bail battle continued as Securities Investor Protection Corp. President Stephen Harbeck said through a spokeswoman that investors who lost money with Madoff could begin recovering some of their funds within two months if their accounts are easy to trace. In his six-page letter sent to Ellis on Tuesday night and publicly filed Wednesday, Litt said Madoff violated his promise not to touch his assets when he and his wife sent multiple packages on Dec. 24 to relatives and friends. The prosecutor said one package contained 13 watches, one diamond necklace, an emerald ring and two sets of cufflinks, items estimated to be worth more than $1 million. He said two other packages contained a diamond bracelet, a gold watch, a diamond Cartier watch, a diamond Tiffany watch, four diamond brooches, a jade necklace and other assorted jewelry and were sent to relatives. Litt said the contents of those packages have been recovered, but prosecutors have not yet learned the contents of two additional packages sent to Madoff's brother and an unidentified couple in Florida. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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