Jerome O’Hara and George Perez, former employees of Bernard Madoff have been accused by the federal government of aiding Madoff in scamming thousands out of billions of dollars. The former Madoff computer programmers, charged with conspiracy, falsifying books and records of a broker-dealer, and falsifying books and records of an investment adviser, for Madoff’s brokerage and investment firms, are currently free on bail. It is thought that the two also received “hush money” from Madoff so they would keep from disclosing the fraud to federal investigators.

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Read more about how Jerome O’Hara and George Perez’s names were given to the federal investigators and what role the pair is accused of playing in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.

According to reports, here, the information used to file charges against the two was based upon an informant’s tip.

The complaint relies heavily on inside information provided by Madoff’s chief financial officer, Frank DiPascali, who is cooperating after pleading guilty in August.

Of course their defense attorneys are going to have a heyday with the fact that DiPascali is facing sentencing, and I’m sure the argument is going to be that DiPascali is going to throw anyone he can under the bus for a lighter sentence. Bail was set for the pair at $1 million. Authorities are also trying to seize O’Hara’s home because it was claimed that he used his profits from the scheme to purchase the home.

The two programmers were arrested at their homes and will face multiple charges for generating the false investment reports that were used to keep the scam running. When the pair went to Madoff in 2006 and threatened to go to the authorities with details of the scam they were both paid $60,000 and given 25% raises in exchange for their continued silence.

The video below explains the fraud and how Madoff scammed thousands of investors. Jerome O’Hara and George Perez are accused of helping perpetuate the scam.

Jerome O’Hara and George Perez, in addition to criminal charges have also been served with a civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Committee. All in all it was not a good day for the former Madoff computer programmers charged with multiple criminal charges related to the multi-billion dollar Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Hopefully the authorities can get to the bottom of this scam and will be able to recover some of the billions of dollars lost by innocent investors throughout the nation.

Photos: www.wenn.com