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Ridgewood man gets probation for role in Madoff scheme

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file photo of Bernie Madoff

MAY 20, 2015    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 1:19 PM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Eric Lipkin was five years old when he met Bernie Madoff at his financial services firm.

He was a student and a track star at Paramus High School when he started doing company clerical work for his father, Irwin, who worked for Madoff. And by the time Eric Lipkin joined the company himself, right out of high school in 1991, he had developed a “reverence” for Madoff.

So said Lipkin’s attorney in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Wednesday, where he sought to explain why his client, a Ridgewood resident, participated in Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, preparing documents that he knew were fraudulent.

“One of the things that made him attractive to Madoff was he was very dependable, and he follows orders,” attorney James Kieran Filan told the court.

Filan offered the explanation at a 90-minute hearing, before a federal judge sentenced Lipkin, 41, to nine months home detention and 200 hours of community service for is role in the $17 billion scheme, to which he pleaded guilty in 2011. Lipkin also agreed in court to forfeit $1.4 million.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain said she was swayed to give a much lighter sentence than federal guidelines suggested because of Lipkin’s role, as described by prosecutors, in helping the government build a case against others involved in the Madoff scheme, and the help he gave the trustee pursuing funds from Madoff’s firm, Bernard L, Madoff Securities, to compensate the scheme’s victims. Lipkin faced a maximum sentence of 70 years in prison.

On Tuesday, former Madoff controller Enrica Cotellessa-Pitz, who has also cooperated with prosecutors, received a similar sentence.

“There is no question that Mr. Lipkin engaged in serious, gravely wrongful conduct, and did so knowingly in material respects,” Swain said, adding that the scheme “shattered dreams and changed lives forever.”

Still, she added, “he has been humbled by what has happened and the court is convinced that his remorse is genuine.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/ridgewood-man-gets-probation-for-role-in-madoff-scheme-1.1338593

9 thoughts on “Ridgewood man gets probation for role in Madoff scheme

  1. You see your zip code matters

  2. This guy probably post here about the unions thugs.

  3. And some people say crime doesn’t pay. 1.4 mil? drop in the bucket when you think about how much he probably made during his 20 year run. If you do white collar crime and sing, you wont do the time.

  4. If you steal a million dollars in quarters you won’t do the time.

  5. Why not a picture of Lipkin instead of Madoff who is in prison?

  6. What a crock.

    The guy is a crook,and a rat… the lowest form of crook. He had no remorse when he was cooking the books and taking out loans using fake money as collateral. Once he was caught he turned state’s and we’re supposed to believe he was some kind of heroic whistle blower?

    Sorry, but there is no other way to say it. I’m in finance, and if I were ever asked to dope up a report, I would call the SEC immediately.

  7. to 740, union workers are not fucking the world, it’s the wall street dirt bag’s. is this guy going to do community service in RIDGEWOOD. yeah right.

  8. My bathroom needs cleaning. Where do I sign up?

  9. Your right 4:42 but he would be a good candidate for the Council.

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