Judge Urged To Jail Madoff Without Bail 審前羈押馬多夫?

Judge Urged To Jail Madoff Without Bail 審前羈押馬多夫?

美國檢察官2008.1.5日天要求Magistrate Judge(預審法官) 將被控涉及金融詐騙案的華爾街掮客馬多夫（BernardMadoff）予以羈押(審前羈押)候審，並且指控他違反保釋規定。
目前紐約聯邦Magistrate Judge (預審法官)說，在檢視檢察官和被告及其辯護律師提出更多資料後，他將再做裁決。
70歲的馬多夫據傳坦承利用「龐氏騙局」，又稱老鼠會手法吸金數10億，導致投資人、銀行、慈善團體及大學等客戶損失慘重，他於2008年12月11日被警方以涉嫌詐欺罪名逮捕，但卻於日前以1000萬美元交保候傳。
「華爾街日報」（Wall Street Journal）報導，檢察官於2009.1.5指出，馬多夫於獲得交保後，將價值約1百萬美金的手錶、珠寶及其他貴重物品送給他的兄弟、兒子及佛羅里達州一對夫婦，違反保釋相關條件，因此聯邦檢察官要求法官將馬多夫予以羈押(審前羈押)且不予交保。
馬多夫的辯護律師碩金（Ira Sorkin)告訴法院，這些物品被送出去只是「無心之失」，並沒有違反保釋規定。

by Jim Zarroli/ NPR/ January 6, 2009 ·
Prosecutors in New York are asking a judge to put Bernard Madoff behind bars without bail. They told the judge Monday that the disgraced financier had violated bail conditions by mailing about $1 million worth of jewelry and other assets to relatives. At roughly the same time in Washington, a House hearing got under way on how regulators missed the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme Madoff is accused of running.

本案ㄧ開始馬多夫乃是在2008.12.11經逮捕(逕行拘提)的，不過當時尚無法預知馬多夫騙局之受害金額大小，而且當天馬多夫只是被指控ㄧ項證券詐欺的罪名，因此當時的預審法官依據Law.com的資料顯示是有經過檢方同意，而以1000萬元美金以及馬多夫位於佛州的房屋作為擔保而同意讓馬多夫具保釋放。不過，顯然預審法官這樣的決定，觸犯了眾怒，畢竟馬多夫幕後的詐欺騙局如滾雪球般一ㄧ浮出檯面，甚至有報導指出受害金額已經高達美金500億元，爲了彌補，預審法官馬上在2008.12.17修改其交保條件，要求馬多夫佩帶電子監控器與其他限制等補救措施。
Arrested on Dec. 11 on a single count of securities fraud, Madoff was released, with the government's consent, on a $10 million bond secured by his apartment in New York City and property in his wife's name on Long Island and in Florida.
Those conditions were later modified to include more restrictive home detention, electronic monitoring and a 24-hour security guard on the couple's apartment, with the service to be paid for by Mrs. Madoff.

不過顯然縱使檢察官、預審法官力求平衡，但是馬多夫案已經延燒到美國國會，美國國會就在2008.1.5開春就首次針對此案召開聽證會，眾院兩黨議員甚至表示，這個事件反映了聯邦證券管理委員會（SEC）整個體制存在嚴重問題，因為SEC十幾年來已經數度接獲檢舉，卻遲無反應，亦未調查。更恰好的是聯邦檢察官也再同一天(2008.1.5)請求預審法官以違反保釋條件(交保條件)，將馬多夫予以羈押(審前羈押)。

馬多夫的律師，認為依據美國聯邦羈押保釋改革法案，只有在有逃亡之虞、對社會有潛在性危險等要件的情形下，讓被告可以在候審期間(pending trial)自由在外。
At issue was the Bail Reform Act, 18 U.S.C. §§3141-3150. Sorkin, Defense attorney, said the act contemplates only the risk of flight and potential danger to the community as factors in deciding whether a defendant should be allowed to stay at liberty pending trial. The public, he said, is in no danger if his client stays out of jail until the case is resolved.
不過聯邦檢察官則認為既然2008.1.18預審法官將not to dissipate assets當成是具保條件(保釋條件)，被告卻在保釋期間將價值甚鉅之珠寶等物贈與，即屬於妨害司法之行為，此其ㄧ。並且引用保釋改革法案原初的立法意旨以及司法委員會意在擴大對社會危險性的定義，認為馬多夫詐騙之金額如此巨大即有逃亡之危險，而且馬多夫此ㄧ情形維持下去，等同於讓政府繞道去計算受害金額與清查有價值之財產(因為凍結財產前仍必須逐一清查究竟有何等財產)根本就不實際。
On Dec. 18, Madoff was ordered by Southern District of New York Judge Louis Stanton not to dissipate assets in an action brought against him and his firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Litt said the shipment amounts to obstruction of justice. Litt countered by citing legislative history -- that the Senate Judiciary Committee intended to adopt a "broader definition" of community safety in shaping the reform act. He also said Madoff remains a flight risk and that is it "simply impractical for the government to go around and collect anything of value." "The most significant thing is, in the face of a direct and clear order of which the defendant was aware, he violated that order," Litt said.

Sorkin insisted that circumstances had not changed to a degree to warrant pretrial detention.
當然，馬多夫的辯護律師Sorkin仍舊堅持馬多夫縱使有於保釋期間將珠寶等貴重物品予以贈與支情形，此情形仍未達到應予審前羈押的程度。
目前法官仍要求檢辯雙方提出: 預審法官能否就 保釋條件重新審查(a de novo review of bail conditions)的意見。就此點，聯邦檢察官已經表示:預審法官當然能針對什麼是最適當的條件來自由判斷，更何況，目前的情況來看已經與當初交保的情形有所不同了。

Magistrate Judge Ellis also wanted the two sides to brief whether he can conduct a de novo review of bail conditions.Litt responded that the judge is "free to evaluate what the appropriate conditions are," and Ellis can always examine "the totality of the circumstances" in deciding whether to detain Madoff, and those circumstances have changed.

2008.12.11 arrested
2008.12.17 changed conditions
2009.1.5 Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt of the Southern District of New York told a magistrate judge Monday that Madoff and his wife Ruth mailed in excess of $1 million in valuables late last month despite a court order in a related civil case requiring the accused mastermind of a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme not to dissipate assets.



note:
1. NPR:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99036129
2.Mark Hamblett,Prosecutor Seeks to Revoke Madoff's Bail for Mailing Valuables to Others,New York Law JournalJanuary 6, 2009,http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202427230037 2009.1.7
3.eTaiwan News - Taiwan（中央社紐約5日法新電）
4.【聯合報╱國際中心／綜合華盛頓5日外電報導2009.01.07 04:04 am】馬多夫騙局 「證管會大疏失」http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR6/4675713.shtml

By Wan-Li Yang 2009.1.7