Madoff’s Coders Charged With Aiding Massive Ponzi Scheme: Via Threat Level.

Two programmers who worked for convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff have been arrested and charged with providing technical support for the massive Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of an estimated $65 billion.

Jerome O’Hara, 46, and George Perez, 43, were arrested Friday morning and charged with conspiracy for falsifying books and records for Madoff’s broker-dealer and investment businesses.

“The computer codes and random algorithms they allegedly designed served to deceive investors and regulators and concealed Madoff’s crimes,” federal prosecutor Preet Bharara said in a statement.

The two, who began working for Madoff in the early 90s, are accused of writing software in 2003 and 2004 that produced fraudulent records that were fed to U.S. regulators and a European accounting firm reviewing the firms’ work. They allegedly repeatedly revised the programs through 2006 to produce reports designed to deceive investigators. [ Read more ... ]