Update: Madoff employee trial held up by evidence mountain

Recall that Daniel Bonventre, who ran the back office of Bernard Madoff's firm for more than 30 years, was arrested and charged with fraud (fraud news) not too long ago. Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, two computer programmers, were also charged; those two stand accused of using an IBM AS/400 to crank out phony account statements.

All three have pled not guilty, and both defense and prosecution seem resigned to a trial. It could be quite interesting, raising the specter that some big names in the controversy--dare I say Bernard himself--will be called as witnesses. This has the potential to provide some real insights into the massive Ponzi Scheme (Ponzi Scheme news).

But the trial is being delayed by a mountain of evidence that the defense team seems to be stumped by. "We have this overwhelming volume of material," defense attorney Larry Krantz told a judge, as noted by the AP. "We're talking about millions and millions of documents."

The government seems more confident on this point. They have created a database and have offered database advice to the defense team. The judge has asked both sides to return to court Nov. 5 with a progress update.

For more:
- here's the article

Related Articles:
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Madoff dominoes still falling
Ex-Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis to stand trial?
Fabrice Tourre, the defining trial of the crisis?

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