With federal prosecutors in Manhattan facing a December deadline to bring additional charges connected to Bernard L. Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, they are weighing criminal charges against several people connected to the case, the New York Times DealBook blog reported yesterday. Among those still under scrutiny are Shana Madoff Swanson, a niece of Bernard Madoff who was a senior executive at the firm, and Paul J. Konigsberg, a longtime accountant in Mr. Madoff’s inner circle. Investigators have examined several dozen people related to the case. Including Madoff, who is serving a 150-year prison sentence, nine have pleaded guilty. When Mr. Madoff confessed in December 2008, that started the clock ticking on a five-year statute of limitations to bring securities fraud charges. Any new charges would come just weeks before the first criminal trial related to the Madoff case. On Oct. 7, five former employees of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities are scheduled to stand trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan on charges they aided the fraud. Each of the five employees — Daniel Bonventre, Annette Bongiorno, Joann Crupi, Jerome O’Hara and George Perez — worked at the firm for more than 15 years.
