Bernie Madoff’s former controller will plead guilty to criminal charges and admit she helped the notorious swindler carry out his massive Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said yesterday.
Enrica Cotellessa-Pitz — who allegedly did double duty as the mistress of Madoff right-hand man Frank DiPascali — will appear at a hearing in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday, where she will cop to falsifying documents to cover up Madoff’s fraud, as well as lying to US regulators, prosecutors Lisa Baroni and Julian Moore said in a two-page letter filed with Judge Laura Taylor Swain and with the court.
Cotellessa-Pitz began working for Madoff in 1978 and was responsible for closing his books each month. For her hard work, she raked in at least $3.26 million and “played a key role in disguising” the scheme, according to a lawsuit filed against her by Madoff bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard. She also allegedly helped throw Securities and Exchange Commission probers off Madoff’s trail in 2006.
Prosecutors said Cotellessa-Pitz, who hasn’t been charged publicly, will plead guilty on Dec. 19 to new government charges — four counts of conspiracy, falsifying books and records of a broker-dealer, falsifying books and records of an investment adviser and making false filings with the SEC.
The charges carry up to 50 years in prison.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/bernie_helper_to_plead_guilty_2jTMziWjeZz2387X96KkdM
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