Q&A on the News

Q: Recent articles have mentioned that five more employees of Bernie Madoff will be brought to trial. It has also been reported that seven others, including Madoff, have pleaded guilty. Who are the others, and to what specifically did they admit their guilt? — Tom Hundley, Peachtree City

A: Federal prosecutors have obtained guilty pleas from Peter Madoff, who helped his brother run Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities for 40 years, and seven former employees: Frank DiPascali, the company's former CFO and a 33-year employee; David Friehling, Madoff's former accountant; Craig Kugel, who worked in human resources; his father, David Kugel, a former supervisory trader; Enrica Cotellessa-Pitz, a former company controller; Irwin Lipkin, also a former company controller; and his son Eric Lipkin, a former payroll manager. They pleaded guilty on a variety of charges, including conspiracy, bank fraud, securities fraud, falsifying books and records, making false filings, obstructing the administration of the federal tax laws, and investment adviser fraud. Bernie Madoff, who pleaded guilty in 2009, is serving a 150-year term at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C., for orchestrating the $65 billion Ponzi scheme, and Peter Madoff was sentenced to a 10-year prison term. DiPascali is considered the government's main witness in the trial of five other former Madoff employees: Annette Bongiorno, a supervisor in Bernie Madoff's private investment business; Daniel Bonventre, the director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and computer programmers Jerome O'Hara and George Perez.

Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).