Bernie Madoff's Brother to Plead Guilty

Peter Madoff, the brother of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, will plead guilty on Friday to charges related to the massive fraud and has agreed to serve a 10-year prison sentence.

In court papers filed Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Preet Bharara notified U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain that Peter Madoff will plead guilty to a count of conspiracy and another count of falsifying records.

“Pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Peter Madoff agrees not to seek a sentence of other than 10 years’ imprisonment,” prosecutors said in the court filing.

Peter Madoff was listed as the compliance officer for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, the New York-based investment firm headed by Bernard Madoff that was at the center of what is believed to be the largest financial fraud in history.

Bernard Madoff was arrested in December 2008. He subsequently pleaded guilty to running the fraud and is now serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison.

In addition to the 10-year sentence, Peter Madoff has agreed to forfeit all of his property and assets, listed for legal purposes in the court filing at $143.1 billion.

The filing says Peter Madoff, as part of the plea agreement, will admit to making false statements to investors, falsifying records, making false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, committing mail fraud and obstructing the functions of the Internal Revenue Service.

Once the plea is entered Friday, Peter Madoff will be the only other Madoff family member to be charged in the fraud. Bernard Madoff’s two sons, Mark and Andrew, both worked in their father’s apparently legitimate brokerage and market making business. Neither son has been charged in connection with their father’s fraud.

Mark committed suicide in December 2010, two years after his father was arrested.