NEW YORK – Jurors have begun deliberating the fate of five former employees of jailed financier Bernard Madoff after hearing dozens of witnesses in New York testify about the historic fraud.
The jury deliberated for more than four hours without reaching a verdict Monday. The deliberations followed a week of closing arguments in a trial that stretched into its fifth month.
The trial focused on what went on within Madoff's offices during a fraud that lasted decades. Thousands of investors lost nearly $20 billion, along with double that in fictitious profits.
Those on trial include Madoff's secretary, his director of operations, an account manager and two computer programmers. Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges after he ran out of money in late 2008.
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