Madoff’s London unit escapes fraud charges
THE Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said it will not take any action against Madoff Securities International – a London arm of frausdster Berine Madoff’s business empire.
Directors of the Mayfair-based business have also escaped charges as prosecutors had “insufficient
evidence”.
The SFO said in a statement there isn’t enough evidence to “provide a realistic
prospect of conviction.”
Madoff pleaded guilty in March to using money from new investors to pay off old ones
in a Ponzi scheme, sparking investigations and dozens of investor lawsuits in the US and Europe.
He ran a $65bn (£40.8bn) Ponzi scheme in which investors lost an estimated $18bn.
Madoff Securities International in London was owned almost exclusively by Madoff and served as his proprietary trading unit, a hearing on the winding up of the unit had been told.
The London office had a staff of 25, including traders, managers and support workers.
The SFO added: “The SFO continues to provide assistance to international partners in law enforcement on aspects of the continuing worldwide investigation and is continuing its own enquiries into wider aspects of the fraud which may give rise to offending in the UK.”