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Bernard Madoff 'asks for 12-year sentence'

Published on 25 Jun 2009 under category: legal

Fraud lawyers operating on behalf of a financier are calling for the man, who has plead guilty to fraud crimes, to receive a 12-year jail sentence.

Bernard Madoff has admitted 11 charges surrounding a $50 billion (£30.71 billion) Ponzi scheme and faces a sentence of up to 150 years in jail.

His legal team has called on the judge not to disproportionally punish the financier compared to others who have committed white collar crimes.

Many of his victims have written to express their hope that Mr Madoff spends the rest of his life in jail.

The defendant is due to be sentenced on June 29th on charges including perjury and fraud crimes.

Mr Madoff operated a typical Ponzi scheme in which dividends are paid from the contributions of later investors.

Former Daily Telegraph editor Conrad Black, who was imprisoned for fraud crimes, has applied for bail pending an appeal to the US Supreme Court.