Bloomberg: Shapiro, Other Madoff Investors Will Forfeit $625M

Published December 7, 2010

Bloomberg News reports:

Carl Shapiro, one of the first clients of convicted con man Bernard Madoff, and a group of related investors agreed to forfeit $625 million to the government.

Shapiro, who held an account with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC beginning in 1961 and controlled accounts for family members and others, reached a forfeiture agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan today, according to a complaint filed by the government seeking to gain control of the funds.

The suit claims the Shapiro money, held in accounts at JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., is traceable to funds invested by victims of Madoff’s fraudulent investment advisory business.

In 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to running the largest Ponzi scheme in history.