Frank DiPascali facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frank DiPascali
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DiPascali in a 2009 Department of Justice photograph
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Frank DiPascali Jr.
October 28, 1956 Queens, New York, U.S.
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| Died | May 7, 2015 (aged 58) |
| Education | courses at St. John's University, Brooklyn College |
| Occupation | Director of options trading chief financial officer |
| Employer | Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities |
| Known for | Ponzi scheme, director of options trading and chief financial officer of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (prior) |
| Criminal status | Convicted, died before sentencing |
| Spouse(s) | JoAnne (married c. 1985) |
| Criminal charge | conspiracy, securities fraud, investment advisor fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, perjury, income tax evasion, international money laundering, falsifying books and records of a broker-dealer, and falsifying books and records of an investment advisor |
Frank DiPascali Jr. (October 28, 1956 – May 7, 2015) was an American fraudster and financier who was a key lieutenant of Bernie Madoff for three decades. He referred to himself as the company's "director of options trading" and as "chief financial officer". For a number of years, he played a key part in the daily operation of the Madoff investment scandal, later recounting how he helped manipulate billions of dollars in account statements so clients would believe that they were creating wealth for them.
On August 11, 2009, he pleaded guilty to ten counts related to the fraud. He subsequently admitted that he had known for at least two decades that Madoff had turned his investment advisory business into a massive Ponzi scheme. He was denied bail before sentencing and spent ten months in jail before being released. He died of lung cancer in 2015 while awaiting sentencing.
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Personal life
DiPascali grew up next door to Annette Bongiorno, Madoff's longtime assistant, in Queens' Howard Beach neighborhood. She recruited him to work for Madoff. DiPascali graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York, in 1974, and joined Madoff's firm in 1975, ultimately rising to be CFO. According to him, he was enrolled at St. John's University and Brooklyn College. DiPascali and his wife, JoAnne, lived in a five-bedroom house, with a pool, on seven acres in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, assessed at $1.38 million. They had three black Mercedes and an 18.5-meter (61-foot) Viking yacht, registered to Dorothy-Jo Sportfishing LLC.
DiPascali's brother-in-law, Robert Cardile, bought his former house in Bridgewater for $400,000. Cardile began working for Madoff in 1985, and responded to phone inquiries for DiPascali.
In January 2005, a tax lien of $77,479 by the IRS for the 1996 tax year was paid by DiPascali three months later. In 2000, New Jersey unpaid taxes of $72,943 were paid. In 1993, New York State Tax Commission filed an action for $21,685, which was also paid. DiPascali died from lung cancer on May 7, 2015, at the age of 58, while awaiting sentencing.
Financial journalist and Madoff biographer Erin Arvedlund describes DiPascali as an abrasive man who padded his resume.
Career
DiPascali started at Madoff's investment-advisory business at age 18 in 1975, and eventually oversaw the company's day-to-day operations. He became the director of options in 1986, and CFO in 1996. He also claims to have been a director of Madoff Securities International Limited in London, but Companies House (the UK registrar of companies) has no record of him ever being appointed as a director of the company. He was the person many of Madoff's investors dealt with regarding their accounts. Madoff told investors DiPascali executed trades. However, a court-appointed trustee found that no trading had occurred for at least 13 years. Prosecutors have asked at least three employees, Eric Lipkin, JoAnn Crupi, and Robert Cardile, DiPascali's brother-in-law, about his role in the firm. Investors spoke to these other employees and would fax orders if they needed to withdraw money. DiPascali's name was sometimes given as an alternate contact.
DiPascali told investigators that on December 3, 2008, Madoff told him that he was finished. By then, due to a wave of redemption requests from skittish investors in the wake of the financial crisis, Madoff's business account at JPMorganChase was down to only $234 million–not even a fraction of what he needed to pay off outstanding redemptions. By this time, banks had all but stopped lending, and Madoff knew he could not hope to borrow enough money to meet that month's upcoming redemptions. He directed DiPascali to use the remaining balance to cash out the accounts of relatives and favored investors. When Madoff's sons told their lawyers about these checks, their lawyers told them to contact federal prosecutors and the SEC right away, setting the stage for Madoff's arrest on December 11.
In the media
- DiPascali was portrayed by Michael Rispoli in the 2016 ABC miniseries Madoff.
- He was portrayed by Hank Azaria in the May 2017 HBO film The Wizard of Lies, based on the best-selling book by Diana B. Henriques.
See also
- Affinity fraud
- Financial crisis of 2007–2010
- Participants in the Madoff investment scandal
- Recovery of funds from the Madoff investment scandal
