Prosecutors lost their bid to have Bernard Madoff jailed while he awaits trial in what they allege is a $50-billion Ponzi scheme.
Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis on Monday rejected a request to remand Madoff, who had angered the government by mailing more than $1 million in jewelry and other valuables to family members and friends in late December -- a violation of a court order not to dissipate assets in a related civil case.
But Magistrate Judge Ellis also attached new conditions to Madoff's right to continue staying at his Park Avenue apartment under electronic monitoring while he awaits a trial or decides to plead guilty in the case.
Magistrate Judge Ellis said the order issued by Judge Louis Stanton in the related civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission was now incorporated into Madoff's bail conditions.
Also incorporated into the bail conditions are a voluntary freeze of assets signed by his wife, Ruth Madoff, who mailed some of the valuables along with her husband.
And Madoff will be required to conduct a complete inventory of his Manhattan home. The magistrate judge said a security company approved by the government "shall search all outgoing physical mail to ensure that no property has been transferred."
Magistrate Judge Ellis said the government failed to carry its burden to show that Madoff presents a clear risk to flee or obstruct justice or to show that Madoff presented a danger to the community. Prosecutor Marc Litt had argued at a hearing and in papers filed last week for an expansive definition of "safety of the community" in the Bail Reform Act -- a definition that would include the chance that Madoff might dissipate assets that could be used to compensate victims.
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Madoff Ruled Not a 'Danger to Community,' Remains Under House Arrest
New York Law Journal
January 12, 2009
