Guilty plea for Madoff's chief of finance

In a New York courthouse yesterday, Frank DiPascali pleaded guilty to 10 charges including securities fraud and international money laundering. The name might not ring alarm bells immediately, but DiPascali is actually the former finance chief at disgraced investor Bernie Madoff's advisory business.

By pleading guilty, DiPascali waivered his right to a trial, and now faced charges that carry a maximum of 125 years. According to reports, DiPascali remained calm throughout the court proceedings, and though neither DiPascali's guilty plea nor the judge's acceptance came as a surprise, the judge's decision to reject DiPascali's bail agreement and to have him escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs left the defendant dazed.

DiPascali, who worked alongside Madoff for decades, admitted to developing a close bond with his one time employer. Madoff, who was sentenced earlier in the year after committing the much-publicised largest investor fraud ever committed, has long maintained he was alone in his scheme; but DiPascali's sentencing suggests otherwise.

In court, DiPascali repeatedly stated that he perpetrated the massive fraud in collusion "with others," though he specified neither who those other were nor how many they numbered. Without trial, there is concern now rising among the finanical services authoritries that the real truth behind the Madoff scandal will never come to light.

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