Each of the lawyers said in different ways that Madoff compartmentalized the company’s inner workings to prevent others from seeing the big picture, and frequently hired people who were young an inexperienced so they learned only from him.
“In order for the fraud to work, Mr. Madoff had to first control his own people,” Breslin said. Madoff “was an utter genius at manipulating people.”
‘Absurd’ Claims
Jerry Reisman, a lawyer representing 35 victims of Madoff in litigation over the fraud, said yesterday in an e-mail any claim that the defendants were duped by Madoff is “absurd.”
“They were not only complicit, but their actions enabled Madoff to continue his deceitful operation,” Reisman, whose clients lost $125 million, said. “Their ongoing efforts to aid Bernie Madoff made them his partners, not just his workers.”
The opening statement from Schwartz hinted at the evidence the U.S. will present, including allegations the ex-employees “obsessed” over the details of fake documents they created to make them look real, including long discussions over what fonts and paper to use and where to place asterisks.
Schwartz told the jury they would see extensive evidence against the defendants, including Bongiorno’s “meticulous records of her involvement in the fraud” and details of Crupi’s management of the “slush fund” into which all customers’ money was deposited instead of being invested into securities.
‘Fancy Cigars’
Prosecutors will also show Bonventre used money stolen from Madoff’s customers to pay for his vacations and country club dues, finance his child’s private-school education, help buy a “fancy Upper East Side apartment” for himself and “fancy cigars,” Schwartz told the jury.
The fraud started in the early 1970s and evolved into an “elaborate fiction” that was “surprisingly simple” and made each of the defendants rich, Schwartz told the jury.