JPMorgan Had Early Doubts on Madoff, Documents Suggest

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Treasury Department’s inspector general has threatened to punish JPMorgan Chase & Co. for failing to turn over documents to regulators investigating the bank’s ties to Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

NEW YORK — Madoff did not do it alone. That is the message prosecutors will pound home as five of Bernard Madoff’s long-time employees go on trial this week accused of enabling his US$65 billion Ponzi scheme. Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to defrauding investors at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, which imploded in late 2008. He is serving a 150-year prison sentence. Madoff said he acted alone, but prosecutors have since charged 15 of his associates.

Federal prosecutors say a review of most customer accounts shows that about half of Bernard Madoff’s clients had not lost money.

The court-appointed trustee in Bernard Madoff Ponzi case has accused the owners of the New York Mets baseball team of reaping $300 million in profit from the scheme, according to documents unsealed Friday.

An entity tied to the New York Mets baseball team and its owner Sterling Equities Inc. might be sued for withdrawing US$47.8-million more from Bernard Madoff’s firm than it deposited with the con man, a lawyer said.

A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer warned about irregularities at Bernard Madoff’s financial management firm as far back as 2004, The Washington Post reported Thursday, citing agency documents and sources familiar with the investigation.