Former Madoff Employee Pleads Guilty to Multiple Charges

Former Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC employee Craig Kugel pled guilty this week to multiple charges, including conspiracy, tax fraud and violations of the Employee Income Retirement Security Act. The plea follows a multiagency investigation that included the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration and Office of the Inspector General. According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Kugel was aware that there were individuals on the BLMIS payroll who did not work for the firm but who still received salaries and benefits, and that he created and maintained false BLMIS employee records on their behalf. He faces up to 19 years in prison.