The brother of the infamous Bernie Madoff is about to plead guilty and faces a 10 year prison term in New York for charges of fraud, the Associated Press is reporting. Prosecutors informed the judge Wednesday that he will plead guilty tomorrow (Friday) to conspiracy and falsifying records charges in connection with the multibillion dollar ponzi scheme his brother perpetrated. Bernie Madoff claimed that he was acting alone as he enticed investors into his fraudulent private investment business. Now it appears that he was meerly taking resposibility to protect family members from meeting the same fate.

Peter Madoff was the former chief compliance officer at the private investment part of Bernie’s business. He has agreed to criminal forfeiture of $143 billion, which represents the amount of money thought to have been lost by the people he swindled. And they are never going to get thier money back. Peter is presently thought to be worth tens of millions of dollars, not billions.

Peter will plead guilty in his role to commit securities fraud and admit to falsifying records of an investment advisor, a broker dealer and the SEC, and mail fraud, and obstruction of the IRS.

His brother, Bernie Madoff, now 74, is serving time in Butner, North Carolina. He has no chance of ever getting out as he is serving a 150 year sentence.

[image source: NY Post, James Messerschmidt]