Defense lawyer for ex-Madoff aide uses 'Sodom and Gomorrah' analogy to emphasize client's innocence

In the trial of five former employees of Bernard Madoff's securities firm, a defense lawyer of one of the defendants had told jurors in the court that his client is an innocent dweller in the modern-day Sodom or Gomorrah of an office the con man has established. Lawyer Roland Riopelle for former account manager Annette Bongiorno made his closing statement yesterday in the Manhattan federal court as his client and four others are being tried regarding their involvement in Madoff's $17 billion Ponzi scheme. Sodom or Gomorrah, added the news agency, are the two cities mentioned in the Bible that were destroyed by God due to the immorality of its citizens.

In his closing statement, Riopelle also mocked the lack of evidence the prosecution purportedly have on Bongiorno.

Bloomberg said that Bongiorno and four others allegedly conspired with carrying on Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The allegations said Bongiorno's group used fake account statements and trade confirmations in order to convince thousands of their investors that the company owned shared in some of the biggest companies in the world. Based on the 31-count indictment in the case, the cash obtained from the investors were used to pay for insiders and boost Madoff's loss-generating operations.

Prosecutors have claimed that Bongiorno knowingly participated in backdating trades to maximize the profit for the firm's earliest investors. Bongiorno reportedly acknowledged the practice as norm in the industry and claimed that she was not aware that it was wrong. The US government also claimed that even Bongiorno backdated her own trades, with one showing that she sold her shares in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc prior to the latter filing for bankruptcy.

Addressing the jurors, Riopelle attempted to convince them that the employees, including Bongiorno are victims and that the scheme is orchestrated by Madoff alone. He said, "The government wants you to be angry and jealous. They want you to focus on the money (because they don't have real evidence). Not one of them knew what the heck was going on at that place."

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Annette Bongiorno trial verdict, Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme

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