URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Peter Madoff Charged Criminally, Civilly; Bernard Madoff’s Brother ‘Enabled The Largest Fraud In Human History’ And Gained Millions Of Dollars, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Says

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Peter Madoff, the brother of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, has pleaded guilty in New York to a two-count superseding information charging him with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, tax fraud, mail fraud, ERISA fraud and falsifying records of an investment adviser.

The government is seeking a staggering forfeiture order of $143.1 billion, “including all of [Peter Madoff’s] real and personal property.”

Peter Madoff began conspiring with his brother in 1996, and the sought-after forfeiture amount “represents all of the investor funds paid” into Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC from 1996 to the Ponzi collapse in December 2008, prosecutors said.

Peter Madoff has agreed to the forfeiture amount, prosecutors said.

Peter Madoff, 66, also was charged by the SEC today. He was the chief compliance officer and senior managing director of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

“Peter Madoff enabled the largest fraud in human history,” said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “He will now be jailed well into old age, and he will forfeit virtually every penny he has.  We are not yet finished calling to account everyone responsible for the epic fraud of Bernard Madoff and the epic pain of his many victims.”

“Peter Madoff helped Bernie Madoff create the image of a functioning compliance program purportedly overseen by sophisticated financial professionals,” said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Tragically, the image was merely an illusion supported by Peter’s sham paperwork and false filings for which he was rewarded with tens of millions of dollars in stolen investor funds.”

Read the SEC’s statement.