Go to content Go to navigation Go to search

June 29, 2009

Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years in Prison for Swindles That Hurt Charities and Donors

A federal judge sentenced Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison today for operating a huge Ponzi scheme that devastated investors, foundations, charities, and others, calling his crimes “extraordinarily evil,” The New York Times reports.

In pronouncing the sentence — the maximum he could have handed down — Judge Denny Chin turned aside Mr. Madoff’s own assertions of remorse and rejected the suggestion from Mr. Madoff’s lawyers that there was a sense of “mob vengeance” surrounding calls for a long prison term.

“Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering,” the judge said. “It spanned more than 20 years.”

In The New York Times’s Dealbook blog, Steve M. Davidoff, a law professor, raises questions about whether charities that received money from donors who invested with Mr. Madoff face legal or moral obligations to return the money.

Read an article from The Chronicle’s archive about the problems facing the charities that depended on foundations with big investments in Mr. Madoff’s firm.

(Free registration is required to view the Times article, and a paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)

Monday June 29, 2009 | Permalink

Commenting is closed for this article.

Previous: Recession Taking Toll on Aid for Scholarships
Next: Supreme Court Puts Off Decision in Case Involving Nonprofit Group's Campaign Documentary

---

Copyright © 2009 The Chronicle of Philanthropy