Five ex- Madoff employees found guilty of aiding in Ponzi scheme

ANI

London, March 25 (ANI): Disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff's five former employees have been reportedly found guilty of conspiring to help him carry out his Ponzi scheme. The US federal jury announced the verdict ending a six month trial for Daniel Bonventre, Annette Bongiorno, Joann Crupi, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez. According to the BBC, Madoff was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 150 years in jail for running a 65billion dollars (�40bn) fraudulent investment scheme. US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that as the jury unanimously found, these five defendants played crucial roles in constructing and maintaining the house of cards that was the Madoff investment fraud. He said that the convictions demonstrate that this largest-ever Ponzi scheme could not have been the work of one person. Bharara added that these defendants each played an important role in carrying out the charade, propping it up, and concealing it from regulators, auditors, taxing authorities, lenders, and investors. (ANI)