Fraudster Bernard Madoff receives 150-year prison sentence

Former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff received a 150-year jail sentence today (June 29) for defrauding more than 13,000 individuals. Madoff, who plead guilty to 11 counts of security fraud and numerous other charges on March 12, 2009, swindled investors out of an estimated US$64.8 billion.

At his sentencing today, the 71-year-old Madoff apologized, claiming he had "made an error in judgment". Many of the victims of the largest Ponzi scheme in history lost their life savings and can no longer secure loans or mortgages.

On June 22, Madoff's lawyers sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Denny Chin requesting a 15- to 20-year prison term for their client, stating that they "believe that the unified tone of the victim statements suggests a desire for a type of mob vengeance".

Chin justified giving Madoff the maximum possible sentence allowable in the case today, telling the court that "the breach of trust was massive—individuals, charities, pension funds, institutional clients—were all repeatedly lied to when told their [assets] were in stock when they weren't."

The announcement of the sentence was met with cheering both in the courtroom and on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.