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Computer Programmers Accused of Aiding Madoff Cover-Up
The American Lawyer
November 16, 2009
Federal prosecutors charged two computer programmers that worked for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities with aiding in the cover-up of a massive Ponzi scheme.
The SEC also filed a separate civil complaint against the two defendants -- Jerome O' Hara, 46, of Malverne, N.Y., and George Perez, 43, of East Brunswick, N.J.
O'Hara has turned to Gordon Mehler, a former federal prosecutor and deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration, while Perez is being represented by Larry Krantz of New York's Krantz & Berman. Neither lawyer immediately returned a request for comment.
The criminal complaint accuses the men of providing technical support to falsify documents and generate fake trading records that were used to defraud BLMIS investors. Last month Irving Picard, a Baker & Hostetler partner tasked with liquidating BLMIS and evaluating victims' claims, determined that cash losses in the scheme had grown to $21.2 billion.
O'Hara and Perez began working for Madoff in the early 1990s, according to federal prosecutors and SEC officials. In April 2006 the two men tried to delete special programs used to produce bogus customer statements and closed their own BLMIS accounts, withdrawing six-figure sums apiece in the process. O'Hara and Perez stopped working for BLMIS in December 2008 after Madoff turned himself in.
Madoff is currently serving a 150-year prison sentence. Two weeks ago his longtime accountant, David Friehling, pleaded guilty to charges that he rubber-stamped financial statements to dupe regulators and BLMIS investors. In August, Madoff's former right-hand man Frank DiPascali Jr. admitted committing fraud in a guilty plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Litt, Lisa Baroni, William Stellmach, Barbara Ward and Sharon Frase are handling the criminal case against O'Hara and Perez. SEC New York regional office associate director Andrew Calamari, regional trial counsel Alexander Vasilescu, and branch chief Israel Friedman are leading the civil matter.
This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on AmericanLawyer.com.
